MIVERSITY  OF  CA  RIVERSIDE    LIBRARY 


3  1210018388569 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


c.  A 


A  K  I  U  S 


THE     LIBYAN 


A    ROMANCE 
OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  GHURUH 


NEW   YORK   AND   LONDON 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1914 


OOPTKIGHT  BV 

3.  APPLETON   AND    COMPANY 

1883. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


COSTTElsTTS. 


BOOK    I. 

I9HAPTZB  PAOK 

I.  Locus  IN  Quo    .            «           .           .            .            .  .1 

II.  To  Us  A  CHILD  is  BORN:    TO  Us  A  SON  is  GIVEN            .  5 

III.  How  MEN  LIVED  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.            .  .15 

IV.  FINE  TRAINING  FOR  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN       .            .            .  25 
V.  A  PAGAN  HERMIT,  OLD  AND  GRAY        .            .            .  .35 

VI.  FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA           ....  50 

VII.  THMCKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD  AND  HEARETH  OK  ANOTHER   .  .     64 

VIII.  WHO  is  HAPI?      •-.*•.            .            .            .            .  79 

IX.  THE  DEMOCRACY  OF  FAITH         .            .            .            .  .95 

X.  FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY        ,  ,  •,                   .           .           .  107 

XL  "FOR  THE  WORK'S  SAKI"          .            .            .            .  .125 

XII.  THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL    .....  143 

XIII.  THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW          .            .            .            .  .157 

XIV.  THE  BLIND  RECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT    .  .  .  .170 
XV.  LOVK  AND  PARTING         ......  181 

XVI.  BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  PER  APIS      .  .  .  .199 

XVII.  CRUCIFIED  UNTO  THE  WORLD      .            .            .            .  .215 

BOOK    II. 

I.  "  His  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY  "  .  . 

II.  A  NAVAL  QUESTION        ..... 

III.  THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION  ..... 

IV.  THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS  .... 

V.  A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC          ..... 
VI.  THE  ONE  GREAT  BATTLE  OF  CHRISTENDOM! 
VII.  THE  SUBVERSION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH 


2028840 


iv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.  THE  ABDICATION  OF  CONSTANTINE         ....  331 

IX.  "I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR  BUT  CHRIST"  .  .  .         339 

X.  THE  COMMUNION  OP  THE  SAINTS  ....  357 

XI.  ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED  FROM  THE  LAW         .  .  .373 

XII.  AN  IMPERIAL  REPENTANCE  .....  386 

XIII.  WELL  DONE,  GOOD  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVANT  .  .         394 


AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

BOOK  I. 


CHAPTER   I. 

LOCUS  IN  QUO. 

A  LONG  time  ago,  Etearchus,  King  of  Axus,  in  Crete, 
married  a  second  wife  (as  many  better  men  have  also 
done),  and  she  persuaded  him  to  get  rid  of  Phronime, 
the  pretty  daughter  of  his  former  spouse.  Thereupon 
Etearchus  agreed  with  a  merchant  of  Thera  that  he  would 
take  Phronime  away  in  his  ship  and  let  her  down  into 
the  sea.  The  merchant,  true  to  the  letter  of  his  bargain, 
did  let  her  down  into  the  sea,  but  true  also  to  that  natu 
ral  tenderness  toward  a  pretty  woman  which  inspires  the 
breast  of  every  man  who  is  fit  for  anything  in  this  world, 
he  quickly  drew  her  up  again  by  a  rope  which  he  had 
fastened  around  her  lissome  waist  for  that  purpose,  and 
conveyed  her  safely  enough  to  Thera. 

There  Phronime  met  another  man,  Polymnestus  by 
name,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  Minyae,  who  also  had  a 
keen  eye  for  feminine  beauty,  and  him  she  married.  By 
this  Polymnestus  our  Phronime  gave  birth  to  a  man- 


2  ARIU8  THE  LIBYAN. 

child,  who  grew  up  to  be  a  terrible  stammerer,  and  was 
therefore  called  Battus. 

And  afterward,  when  Grinus,  the  Theran  king,  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  oracle  of  Delphi  to  see  whether  the 
oracle  would  tell  him  some  remedy  for  a  fearful  drought 
which  then  afflicted  all  the  land  of  Thera,  Battus  the 
Stammerer  went  along  with  him  to  see  whether  the  same 
sacred  oracle  would  tell  him  some  remedy  by  which  to 
cure  himself  of  stuttering.  To  both  of  these  suppliants 
the  oracle  made  the  same  answer,  and  this  answer  was  as 
follows:  "FOUND  A  CITY  IN  LIBYA  ! "  But  they  did 
not  know  where  Libya  was,  and  were,  therefore,  very  low- 
spirited  about  finding  any  cure  for  the  drought  and  for 
the  stammering ;  until  it  chanced  that  upon  their  home 
ward  voyage  they  fell  in  with  an  ancient  fisherman,  Corobius 
by  name,  who  had  once  been  driven  by  storms  upon  the 
African  coast,  and  he  undertook  to  pilot  them  to  Libya. 

And  afterward,  it  was  about  630  B.  c.,  Battus  the  Stut 
terer  went  with  a  colony  to  Libya,  and  founded  there  the 
city  of  Gyrene,  almost  ten  miles  from  the  Mediterranean, 
nearly  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  with 
the  grand  Barcan  mountains  rising  between  it  and  the  great 
desert  of  the  same  name.  From  this  colony  afterward 
sprang  (Pentapolis,  the  Grecian  five-cities)  Cyrene,  Bernice, 
Arsinoe,  Barca,  and  Apollonia. 

Thus  far  testifieth  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history, 
who,  if  not  always  entirely  trustworthy,  is  certainly  no 
greater  liar  than  the  rest  of  the  tribe. 

Battus  became  king  of  all  Cyrenaica,  and  his  descend 
ants,  by  the  name  of  Battidse,  did  rule  that  land,  and 


LOCUS  IN   QUO.  3 

maintain  the  prosperity  of  Gyrene  through  eight  genera 
tions,  until  the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt  conquered  the  country, 
and  under  their  patronage  Apollonia,  the  seaport,  became 
the  chief  city. 

It  would  be  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  because  Cyrene 
was  on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  near  the  vast  and 
arid  Barcan  Desert,  it  was  therefore  an  unpleasant  seat.  On 
the  contrary,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  a  more  de 
lightful  locality  can  be  found  on  earth.  All  Pentapolis  is 
remarkably  healthful  and  pleasant,  especially  Cyrene  and 
its  vicinity.  The  lofty  mountain-range  slopes  gently  away 
to  the  very  sands  of  earth's  middle  sea,  the  waters  of  which 
temper  the  heat  of  the  climate,  while  the  high  moun 
tains  lying  farther  inland  ward  off  the  hot  blasts  of  the 
desert.  In  Cyrene,  and  between  the  city  and  the  sea,  a 
luxuriant  soil  produces  almost  every  fruit,  flower,  and 
grain  known  to  both  tropical  and  temperate  latitudes.  The 
grand  fountain  of  Apollo,  which  the  Arabs  of  our  age 
call  'Ain  Sahat,  gushed  up  in  the  very  midst  of  it.  The 
mean  temperature  is  85°  Fahr.,  and  the  variations  thereof 
are  gradual  and  insignificant. 

In  the  year  26  B.  c.,  Apion,  the  last  lineal  descend 
ant  of  the  Egyptain  Ptolemies,  bequeathed  the  city  to  the 
Romans. 

Cyrene,  so  happily  situated,  became  noted,  not  only  for 
its  prosperity  and  salubriousness,  but  for  the  intellectual 
life  and  activity  of  its  inhabitants.  It  long  possessed  a 
famous  medical  school ;  it  gave  to  fame  Callimachus,  the 
poet ;  Carneades,  the  founder  of  the  new  academy  at  Ath 
ens  ;  Aristippus,  the  disciple  of  Socrates ;  Eratosthenes, 


4  AKIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

the  Polyhistor  ;  and  Synesius,  one  of  the  most  elegant  of 
ancient  Christian  writers. 

Not  far  from  beautiful  and  prosperous  Gyrene,  on  one 
of  those  gentle  declivities  which  were  washed  by  the  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean,  there  was,  in  A.  D.  265,  a  comfort 
able  stone  farm-house,  pleasantly  located  in  the  midst  of  a 
considerable  tract  of  cultivated  lands.  The  farm  faced  a 
small  bay  and  the  limitless  sea  northwardly ;  southwardly 
the  high  range  of  the  Barcan  mountains  rolled  grandly  away, 
their  nearer  slopes  inclosing  the  farm  between  the  highlands 
and  the  bay,  and  imparting  to  the  beautiful  place  a  most 
attractive  sense  of  quiet  and  seclusion  from  the  busy  world. 
The  house  was  one  story  high,  containing  seven  rooms,  and 
the  ground  plan  of  it  was  exactly  the  outline  of  a  cross, 
there  being  four  rooms  and  a  portico  in  the  length  thereof, 
and  three  in  its  greatest  width. 

At  this  house,  in  the  last-named  year,  was  born  a  man- 
child,  whose  fate  it  was  to  become  one  of  the  grandest, 
purest,  least  understood,  and  most  systematically  misrepre 
sented  characters  in  human  history — Arius  the  Libyan,  the 
Heretic — whose  fortunes,  good  and  evil,  whose  experiences, 
heterodox  or  orthodox,  shall  be  followed  in  these  pages 
with  genuine  love  and  admiration,  with  profoundest  pity 
also,  and  yet  with  a  sincere  desire  to  deal  justly  with  his 
grand  and  beautiful  memory,  seeking  to  "  nothing  extenu 
ate  nor  set  down  aught  in  malice." 


CHAPTER  IL 

TO   US  A  CHILD   IS  BORN  :    TO   US   A  SON  IS  GIVEN. 

THE  family  resident  at  the  Libyan  farm-house  consisted 
of  only  the  swarthy  Egyptian  Ammonius  ;  his  young  wife 
Arete,  who,  although  an  Egyptian,  had  somehow  acquired 
a  purely  Greek  name,  a  fact  which  indicated  vast  influ 
ence  that  the  great  Grecian  city  of  Alexandria  had  long 
exerted  over  Egypt ;  and  an  old  female  domestic  that  had 
belonged  to  Arete's  mother  during  even  her  girlhood,  and 
was  called  Thopt,  the  abbreviation  of  some  ancient  Coptic 
name,  the  letters  of  which  still  served  to  point  out  the  fact 
that  in  her  infancy  she  had  been  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  some  one  of  the  gods  of  the  Nile. 

The  tropical  sun  was  just  rising  along  the  Libyan 
coasts,  when  old  Thopt  came  into  the  apartment  in  which 
sat  Ammonius  awaiting  news  of  his  wife,  bearing  in  her 
arms  a  creature  that  was  swaddled  up  in  such  innumerable 
bandages  that  it  looked  like  a  new  and  diminutive  mum 
my,  and,  presenting  this  pygmy  to  the  father,  the  old 
woman  said  :  "  It  is  a  man-child,  and  a  fine  one  !  But  he 
hath  a  forehead  like  a  ram. " 

And  Ammonius  carefully  but  awkwardly  took  the  par 
cel  into  his  own  hands,  and  looked  upon  it  with  curious 


6  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

emotion,  whereupon  the  manikin  began  to  cry  so  sudden 
ly  and  vigorously  that  Ammonius  would  have  let  it  drop 
upon  the  floor  if  old  Thopt  had  not  seized  it  just  as  the 
lapse  began. 

"  How  fareth  the  little  man's  mother  ?  "  said  he,  "  and 
may  I  not  go  in  to  see  her  immediately  ?  " 

"  She  rallieth  from  her  trial  wonderfully,"  answered 
old  Thopt,  "and  even  now  inquireth  after  thee." 

And  the  great,  rough,  swarthy  man  went  into  his  wife's 
room,  and,  bending  over  her,  he  kissed  her  with  exceeding 
tenderness  :  "  May  the  Lord  help  thee,  mother,"  he  said, 
"  for  thou  art  mother  now,  and  doubly  dear  to  me  ! " 

"  Bless  thee,  husband  ! "  said  Arete  ;  "  and  remember 
that  thou  hast  promised  me  that,  if  the  babe  should  prove 
to  be  a  boy,  thou  wouldst  have  him  educated  for  the  min 
istry  of  Christ.  May  the  Lord  raise  him  up  for  his  own 
glory!" 

"  Amen! "  replied  Ammonius,  fervently.  "  I  did  so  prom 
ise  thee,  Arete,  and  will  so  do  if  the  Lord  will.  Already 
our  pleasant  farm  is  so  famous  for  its  excellent  cattle,  that 
whereas  I  did  call  the  house  Baucalis  because,  when  the 
wind  bloweth  from  the  east,  the  water  runneth  through 
the  narrow  entrance  into  the  little  bay,  with  a  murmur  like 
the  gurgling  of  wine  from  a  bottle,  the  neighbors  call  the 
place  Boucalis  because  they  say  that  no  land  in  all  Cyrenaica 
produceth  more  or  better  cattle.  So,  little  mother,  thou 
need  not  fear  but  that  with  the  cattle  and  with  shipments 
of  corn  to  Alexandria,  whence  the  merchants  transport  it 
unto  Puteoli  and  Kome  far  across  the  sea,  we  shall  be  able 
to  give  thy  boy  all  proper  training  to  become  a  presbyter, 


TO  US  A  CHILD  IS  BORN :   TO  US  A  SON  IS  GIVEN,     f 

or  even  a  bishop,  if  he  liveth  and  showeth  a  godly  dispo 
sition." 

"  And  thou  wilt  never  let  the  love  of  gain,  nor  of  world 
ly  honors,  grow  upon  thee  until  thou  shalt  repent  thee  of 
this  purpose,  and  so  determine  that  it  would  be  better  for 
the  boy  to  betake  himself  to  business  affairs  and  acquire 
wealth  rather  than  to  serve  God  wholly  ?  " 

"  Nay,  verily,"  cried  Ammonius  ;  "  for  the  matter  lieth 
nearer  to  my  heart  than  even  thou  knowest,  Arete." 

"  For  what  reason,  then,  good  husband  ?  " 

"  I  have  often  told  thee,  little  mother,  that  I  was  a 
boy  in  a  temple  on  the  Nile,  dedicated  to  Amun,  or  Am- 
mon,  as  mine  idolatrous  name  doth  signify,  and  that  at  an 
early  age  I  fled  therefrom  and  betook  myself  to  the  river 
and  to  the  sea,  and  did  prosper  so  that  I  got  first  an  inter 
est  in  a  ship,  and  afterward  the  sole  ownership  thereof,  and 
made  many  long  and  prosperous  voyages.  I  have  told 
thee,  also,  in  all  details,  how,  on  a  voyage  from  Alexandria 
unto  Italy,  the  storm  drove  us  upon  a  rocky  island  where 
our  destruction  seemed  imminent,  until,  while  we  all  were 
momently  expecting  death,  a  quiet  and  almost  unnoticed 
passenger,  who  had  come  from  Antioch  unto  Alexandria  and 
was  journeying  with  us  to  Puteoli,  did  pray  for  us  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  stilled  the  storm,  and  so  saved  the  ship  and  all 
our  lives.  I  have  often  told  thee  how  this  good  Bishop  of 
Antioch  did  lead  me  into  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
Christ,  and  how  I  sold  my  ship  and  cargo,  and  gave  one 
half  of  my  property  to  the  Church,  that  other  Egyptians 
might  be  converted,  and  with  the  other  moiety  bought  this 
farm,  having  known  the  pleasant  coasts  of  Cyrenaica  for 


8  ,     ARIUS   THE   LIBYAN. 

many  years  ;  and  then  returned  to  Alexandria  to  bring 
thee  hither  that  we  might  as  stewards  of  the  Lord  manage 
this  estate  together.  But  I  did  not  tell  thee  that  when 
the  bishop  asked  me  whether  I  experienced  any  vocation 
for  the  preaching  of  the  word,  and  I  did  tell  the  holy  man 
that  neither  natural  gifts  nor  education  fitted  me  for  that 
sacred  calling,  I  did  then  vow  to  the  Lord  that  if  any  son 
were  given  unto  me  I  would  teach  him  as  far  as  I  might  be 
able  to  do  in  the  love  and  learning  of  the  gospel,  and 
would  send  him  unto  Antioch  to  be  more  thoroughly  in 
structed.  So  thou  seest,  dear  little  mother,  that  not  only 
thine  and  mine  own  inclinations,  but  also  mine  obligation 
given  unto  God,  bindeth  me  to  bestow  upon  the  boy  all  the 
teaching  I  can  give  unto  him,  and  to  afford  to  him  every 
reasonable  opportunity  for  greater  learning.  And  I  pray 
that  he  may  escape  the  physical  infirmity  which,  even 
more  than  the  lack  of  learning,  hath  kept  me  from  the 
public  ministry  of  the  word  !  " 

"  It  is  a  strange  and  perplexing  thing,"  laughed  Arete, 
"  and  yet  amusing.  For  all  the  Christians  of  our  region  rely 
upon  thy  strong  good  sense  and  modest  learning  in  every 
private  matter,  whether  of  business  or  of  religion ;  yet 
it  seemeth  so  pitiful  that,  if  thou  standest  upon  thy 
feet  to  speak  to  any  assembly,  thou  dost  straightway 
begin  to  jerk  and  wriggle  like  a  serpent,  and  to  hiss  and 
stammer  so  that  thou  canst  not  talk  intelligibly,  although 
thou  hast  more  brains  and  learning  than  many  who  are 
eloquent." 

"  I  long  thought  it  to  be  my  duty  to  try  to  overcome 
these  physical  defects,  but,  if  at  any  time  my  heart  is  deep- 


TO  US  A  CHILD  IS  BOEN :   TO  US  A  SON  IS  GIVEN.     9 

ly  moved,  I  can  not  talk,  and  it  is  useless  to  try  it  any 
more.  We  shall  strive  both  by  teaching  and  by  prayer  to 
train  the  boy  better." 

"Dost  thou  not  remember,  Ammonias,  that  evening  in 
our  boat  upon  the  dear  old  Nile,  what  a  distressful  time 
thou  didst  endure  in  thine  attempt  to  ask  me  to  become 
thy  wife  ?  "  And  the  little  woman  laughed  and  laughed 
until  her  eyes  were  full  of  happy  tears. 

"  Yea,"  answered  Ammonius,  "  nor  indeed  do  I  think 
that  I  did  ever  ask  thee  at  all.  I  did,  after  many  efforts, 
get  thee  to  say  what  words  thou  wouldst  have  a  man  use 
who  loved  thee  and  wanted  thee  to  be  his  wife,  and  all  I 
could  do  was  to  cry  out,  '  I  say  that  to  thee,  Arete — I  say 
all  that  and  more  ! '  and  in  mine  embarrassment  verily  I 
could  utter  nothing  else  !  " 

"  But,"  laughed  the  little  woman,  "  afterward  I  did 
make  thee  say  the  words  over  and  over  again,  albeit  I 
might  almost  as  soon  have  trained  a  parrot  to  repeat 
them." 

"  But  I  trust  thou  hast  never  regretted  the  trouble 
thou  didst  take  in  teaching  me  how  to  court  thee,"  said 
Ammonius. 

"  Nay,  verily,"  she  answered,  "  but  I  think  it  was  the 
most  amusing  courtship  that  hath  ever  happened." 

And,  while  husband  and  wife  pleasantly  conversed,  old 
Thopt  brought  the  child  back  to  his  mother,  and  an 
nounced  that  Christian  women  from  other  farms  along  the 
coast  had  come  to  offer  their  congratulations  and  any  as 
sistance  that  might  be  needed.  It  was  singular  to  observe 
that  while  the  adjacent  country,  from  Apollonia  to  Cy- 


10  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

rene,  and  all  around,  was  settled  by  Egyptians,  Greeks, 
Jews,  and  Romans,  and  while  some  women  and  girls  of 
all  of  these  nationalities,  during  the  next  few  days,  made 
visits  of  sympathy  to  the  family  at  Baucalis,  none  came  ex 
cept  those  who  were  known  to  each  other  to  be  Christians, 
no  matter  what  their  nationality  might  be.  Practically  the 
faith  of  Jesus  had  broken  down  all  ethnic,  social,  and  po 
litical  barriers  among  those  who  professed  it ;  and  the 
only  class  distinction  which  was  recognized  at  all  was  be 
tween  those  who  were  Christians  and  those  who  were  not. 
The  persecution,  which  had  begun  seven  years  before  under 
the  Emperor  Valerian,  had  raged  in  Libya  as  fiercely  as  in 
any  portion  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and,  although  intermit 
tent  in  its  character,  there  had  quite  recently  been  cruelties 
enough,  extending  in  some  instances  to  martyrdom,  chiefly 
at  the  instigation  of  Jewish  and  pagan  priests,  to  render  it 
necessary  for  the  Christians  to  conduct  their  religious  rites 
and  social  intercourse  with  a  certain  degree  of  secrecy,  and 
to  preserve  their  ancient  means  of  instantaneous  recogni 
tion  in  constant  use,  so  that,  when  a  Christian  might  meet 
any  one  who  was  not  familiarly  known  to  him,  an  almost 
imperceptible  sign  served  as  a  challenge  by  which  he  was 
instantly  enabled  to  tell,  without  an  inquiry  or  a  spoken 
word,  whether  the  stranger  might  be  a  Christian  or  not, 
Of  course,  if  any  one  came  who  failed  to  recognize  the 
sign,  another  movement,  almost  as  imperceptible,  served  to 
warn  all  Christians  present  that  there  was  one  near  them 
who  did  not  profess  their  faith  ;  so  that  there  was  little 
danger  in  their  usual  intercourse  with  each  other  or  with 
their  pagan  neighbors. 


TO  US  A  CHILD  IS  BORN:   TO  US  A  SON  IS  GIVEN.    H 

On  the  eighth  day  after  the  birth  of  the  boy,  a  few 
Christians  assembled  at  the  farm,  and  the  services  of  a 
presbyter  of  Gyrene  were  procured.  They  first  engaged 
in  singing  and  in  prayer,  and  then  a  portion  of  the  gospel 
was  read  and  the  communion  administered,  after  which 
the  child  was  baptized.  Preparatory  to  this  ceremony 
there  was  quite  a  discussion  among  them  as  to  the  name 
by  which  the  boy  should  be  baptized,  the  young  mother 
being  desirous  to  call  him  by  the  name  of  some  of  the  holy 
men  who  had  suffered  martyrdom  for  Jesus,  or  had  other 
wise  become  especially  dear  and  honored  throughout  the 
Christian  communities.  To  this  the  fatal  objection  was 
urged  that  such  a  selection  of  a  name  might  arouse  evil- 
minded  neighbors  to  the  fact  that  there  were  Christians 
among  them,  and  so  render  the  family  unnecessarily  and 
perhaps  dangerously  obnoxious  to  the  malice  of  any  who 
might  ever  harbor  ill-will  against  them.  Ammonius  in 
sisted  upon  calling  the  boy  after  the  name  of  a  Eoman  who 
had  been  his  partner  in  the  old  sea-faring  days,  and  whom 
he  had  highly  esteemed,  although  he  might  be  still  a  pagan 
so  far  as  Ammonius  knew ;  and  so  the  child  was  finally 
christened  "  Arius." 

"It  is  almost  the  Greek  name  of  the  god  of  war  whom 
the  heathen  worship,"  said  the  presbyter. 

"  He  shall  be  a  warrior,"  answered  Ammonius — "a  sol 
dier  of  Christ ;  and  the  military  designation  is  not  inappro 
priate." 

"  It  is  almost  the  name  for  a  ram  !"  said  another. 

"  I  desire  him  to  become  the  leader  of  a  flock/*  said 
Ammonius,  "  and  the  name  is  well  enough." 


12  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"It  is  almost  the  name  of  one  of  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac,"  said  another. 

"  I  pray  that  the  boy's  thoughts  and  hopes  may  be 
fixed  upon  celestial  things,"  said  Ammonius,  "and  the 
name  is  well  enough." 

"It  almost  signifies  that  he  shall  be  most  lean  and 
spare,"  said  yet  another. 

"  I  would  not  desire  him  to  look  like  a  glutton  or  a 
drunkard,"  said  Ammonius,  "and  surely  the  name  is  well 
enough. " 

"It  may  signify  'entreated'  or  ' supplicated,'  or  'exe 
crated,'  or  'accursed,' "  said  the  presbyter,  "and  is  certain 
ly  a  strange  name." 

"  I  would  ever  have  him  sought  after  by  the  good  and 
hated  by  the  evil,"  answered  Ammonius,  "and  I  will  not 
change  the  name.  Let  him  be  called  Arius.  Besides, "he 
added,  "  what  is  in  a  name  ?  Mine  own  idolatrous  name 
signifieth  'dedicated  to  Am-un,'yet  I  hope  ye  take  me  to 
be  a  Christian.  I  call  the  farm  Baucalis,  from  the  murmur 
of  the  waters  on  the  garden  shore,  but  ye  call  it  Boucalis, 
because  it  breedeth  good  cattle.  Arius! — what  doth  it 
matter  whether  it  meanefch  this  or  that  ?  I  know  it  for 
the  name  of  an  honorable  man  and  faithful  friend,  and,  if 
the  boy  become  what  I  hope  to  see  him,  he  shall  make  both 
the  name  Baucalis  and  Arius  loved  and  honored  by  the 
faithful  everywhere.  If  he  turneth  out  ill,  a  prouder  name 
might  be  disgraced  by  him  ;  therefore  let  him  be  called. 
Arius." 

And  so  the  babe  was  christened. 

"I  perceive,"  said  the  presbyter,  after  the  religious 


VO  US  A  CHILD  IS  BORN :   TO  US  A  SON  IS  GIVEN.     13 

services  were  ended  and  all  of  them  partook  of  suitable 
refreshments  and  engaged  in  conversation,  "that  thou 
hast  fixed  thy  heart  upon  having  this  child  devoted  unto 
the  service  of  our  Lord.  It  seemeth  strange  to  me  that, 
having  such  a  pious  desire  for  him,  thou  that  art  learned 
and  intelligent  hast  never  thyself  sought  to  preach  the 
gospel  of  our  Lord  ! " 

"I  might  truly  have  rejoiced  so  to  do,"  answered  Am- 
monius,  "but  that  the  python's  influence  prevented  me." 

"  The  python  ! "  exclaimed  the  presbyter ;  "  why,  broth 
er,  what  can  the  serpent  have  to  do  with  thee  ?  " 

"This,"  replied  Ammonius.  "Some  time  before  I 
came  into  the  world,  at  Alexandria,  to  which  great  city 
strangers  resort  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  even  as 
unto  imperial  Rome,  there  came  certain  priests  out  of  In 
dia  to  witness  the  ceremonies  of  a  great  festival  in  honor 
of  a  new  Apis,  and  in  their  train  certain  jugglers  who 
wrought  various  wonders,  and  carried  with  them  immense 
pythons  which  they  had  charmed  and  rendered  harmless. 
While  my  mother  stood  on  the  propylon  of  our  house, 
watching  the  vast  procession,  one  of  the  pythons,  that  had 
itts  tail  entwined  round  the  neck  and  body  of  an  Indian 
passing  below,  suddenly  sprang  up  out  of  its  coil  erect,  and 
brandished  its  hideous  head  before  my  mother's  face,  so 
that  she  fainted  thereat  with  terror.  When  I  came  into 
the  world  she  was  horrified  at  being  able  to  trace  out  in 
the  conformation  of  my  head  and  face  the  similitude  of 
the  cobra ;  and  with  many  prayers  and  offerings  she  had 
me  early  dedicated  to  Ammon,  thinking  that  perchance 

the  idol  might  remove   the  peculiarity   of    my  features 
2 


14  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

which  made  me  loathsome  in  her  sight  by  continually  re 
calling  the  fearful  image  of  the  python.  As  I  grew  older, 
this  conformation  largely  faded  out,  but  all  my  life,  when 
ever  my  feelings  or  passions  are  aroused,  involuntary  action 
of  the  muscles  runneth  from  the  feet  upward,  and  maketh 
me  to  writhe  like  a  serpent,  and  throweth  a  sibilant  sharp 
ness  into  my  voice,  so  that  anything  like  public  speaking  is 
well-nigh  impossible  to  me  ;  and  I  am  compelled  to  master 
all  emotions  and  to  preserve  a  perfect  serenity  of  mind,  in 
order  to  avoid  this  serpentine  appearance  which  is  distress 
ful  to  some  and  fearful  unto  others,  and  am  compelled  to 
speak  in  the  slow,  methodical  manner  thou  hearest.  But 
for  this  affliction,  I  would  gladly  have  entered  into  the 
public  service  of  the  Master.  God  grant  that  my  boy  in 
herit  not  this  strange  malady  !  Pray  thou  for  him." 

"Yea,  most  gladly  and  earnestly  will  I,"  said  the  pres 
byter.  "  But  repine  thou  not,  my  brother ;  for,  although 
thou  preachest  not  publicly,  thy  godly  walk  and  conversa 
tion  are  a  living  sermon,  which  all  who  know  thee  must 
ponder  with  delight  and  edification." 

And  afterward  the  presbyter  departed,  and  all  who 
had  attended  the  service  went  each  one  his  own  way,  with 
sincerest  benedictions  upon  the  little  family  of  Baucalis, 
and  warmest  sympathy  with  the  earnest  desire  of  the  par 
ents  that  their  babe  might  live  and  grow  up  to  be  a  min 
ister  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOW   MEN   LIVED   IN  THE   KINGDOM   OF   HEAVEN. 

SOON  the  ripple  of  excitement  caused  by  the  arrival  of 
the  young  Arius  at  the  Baucalis  farm  passed  away,  and  the 
life  of  the  dwellers  there  resumed  its  wonted  quiet.  Am- 
monius,  generally  bareheaded  and  naked  from  the  waist 
up  and  from  the  knees  down,  as  the  custom  of  the  country 
was,  his  olive  skin  glistening  with  healthful  perspiration, 
pursued  the  various  labors  of  the  farm,  and  his  wife  at 
tended  to  the  fruits  and  vegetables  nigh  the  house ;  and 
old  Thopt  prepared  their  food,  and  did  the  washing  which 
their  simple  style  of  living  rendered  necessary ;  and  both 
women  devoted  the  hours  not  otherwise  employed  to  the 
manufacture  of  woolen,  cotton,  and  linen  goods  for  domestic 
uses.  Neither  Jewish,  Greek,  nor  Roman  women  generally 
adopted  the  luxurious  manners  and  elegance  of  dress  and 
ornament  common  to  noble  or  opulent  Egyptians ;  and 
those  Egyptians  who  dwelt  in  the  agricultural  portions  of 
Cyrenaica,  especially  those  who  were  Christians,  followed 
the  simpler  manners  of  the  same  classes  among  their 
neighbors.  At  the  Baucalis  farm  everything  about  the 
house  was  scrupulously  clean  and  neat,  manifestly  de- 


16  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

signed  for  comfort  and  convenience,  nothing  for  ostenta 
tion.  In  the  business  of  the  place,  out-doors  and  in-doors, 
there  was  never  seen  any  of  that  driving  spirit  which  indi 
cates  a  thirst  for  accumulation,  but  all  duties  were  prose 
cuted  as  if  reasonable  diligence  were  esteemed  to  be  both 
a  duty  and  a  pleasure.  At  the  end  of  a  year's  labor  Am- 
monius  would  have  felt  no  concern  at  all  if  he  had  found 
that  he  had  not  gained  a  single  coin  beyond  the  sum 
requisite  to  pay  taxes,  but  he  would  have  experienced  a 
humiliating  sense  of  shame  and  unworthiness  if  the  occu 
pant  of  so  fine  a  farm  had  failed  to  have  enough  and  to 
spare  for  every  call  of  charity,  for  every  reasonable  claim 
upon  his  hospitality,  or  for  liberal  contribution  to  every 
work  in  which  the  Church  was  interested.  Corn,  wheat,  and 
barley,  variously  prepared  for  table  use,  a  large  variety  of 
fruits  both  preserved  and  fresh,  and  many  kinds  of  vegetables, 
formed  their  chief  food.  Fish  of  choice  kinds,  and  in  great 
abundance,  was  in  common  use,  and  domestic  fowls  were 
raised  by  all.  The  consumption  of  flesh  was  not  an  every 
day  thing  with  these  simple  and  healthful  people.  Twice, 
or,  at  most,  thrice  a  week  neighbors  would  club  together 
and  kill  and  part  among  themselves  a  kid  or  sheep.  Beef 
was  little  used  among  them,  and  was  raised  for  market 
chiefly.  Swine's  flesh  they  never  used,  and  they  wondered 
at  the  Eoman  appetite  for  coarse,  strong  meat  dishes. 
The  light,  pleasant  wine  made  everywhere  along  the  coast 
was  in  general  use  among  them  all.  The  every-day  dress 
of  both  sexes  was  cotton  cloth,  a  short  kilt  reaching  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  knee,  and  over  this,  when  not  actively 
at  work,  a  loose  gown  covering  the  person  from  neck  to 


HOW  MEN  LIVED  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.    If 

ankle,  and  confined  at  the  waist  with  a  girdle  or  sash  of 
bright-colored  cloth.  They  had  garments  of  finest  wool 
and  linen  for  extraordinary  occasions. 

In  this  region  the  Christian  communities  were  not 
formally  organized  upon  the  communistic  basis  of  the 
primitive  Church,  because  all  of  them  were  in  a  nearly 
equally  prosperous  condition,  and  there  were  none  among 
them  who  were  "  poor  "  in  the  sense  of  requiring  assistance. 
The  few  that  were  in  any  way  incapacitated  for  earning  a 
livelihood  were  related  by  ties  of  blood  to  one  or  more  fam 
ilies,  able  and  always  willing  to  afford  them  every  needful 
comfort  and  assistance.  But  no  Christian  family  was  ever 
known  to  refuse  anything  for  which  a  needy  person  asked, 
in  money,  clothing,  food,  or  whatever  they  possessed  ;  and 
in  this  respect  it  made  little  difference  what  might  be 
the  religion  or  nationality  of  the  applicant.  To  refuse  to 
give  to  one  that  asked  would  have  seemed  to  any  of  these 
Christians  to  be  a  wicked,  almost  sacrilegious,  violation  of 
the  very  words  of  Jesus  :  "  Give  to  Mm  that  asketh,  and 
from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee,  turn  not  thou  away." 
They  regarded  all  property  of  Christians  as  in  the  own- 
enership  of  the  Church,  and  themselves  only  as  stewards 
intrusted  with  the  management  of  this  or  that  portion 
thereof.  Hence  every  call  of  presbyter  or  bishop  for  as 
sistance  to  less  fortunate  communities,  and  every  individ 
ual  application  for  aid,  was  gladly  and  promptly  responded 
to  ;  and  they  regarded  it  as  part  of  their  profession  of  faith 
to  find  some  healthful  occupation  for  every  one  that  was 
able  and  willing  to  do  anything  for  the  common  good.  In 
the  cities  of  Cyrenaica  were  many  Christians  engaged  in 


18  AEIDS  THE   LIBYAN. 

multiform  avocations,  but  even  there  the  Christian  com 
munities  were  so  temperate  and  diligent  that  few  among 
them  wanted  anything  ;  and  the  union  of  the  faithful  fur 
nished  such  a  perfect  safeguard  against  the  ills  of  life  that 
they  were  not  only  able  to  care  for  those  of  their  own 
number  who  might  be  overtaken  by  any  calamity,  but 
were  always  able  and  willing  to  afford  assistance  to  foreign 
communities  less  fortunately  situated,  when  requested  so 
to  do.  In  short,  all  and  far  more  than  modern  "poor- 
laws,"  Masonic,  Odd-Fellows',  and  other  eleemosynary  as 
sociations,  marine,  life,  and  fire  companies,  have  been 
enabled  to  do  toward  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  unfortunate,  was  far  more  perfectly  accomplished 
by  these  Christian  communities,  that  recognized  as  a 
matter  of  faith  the  principle  of  all  human  charity  which 
extends  beyond  mere  alms-giving,  that  the  average  pros 
perity  of  the  community  should  extend  to  each  individual 
thereof  when  overtaken  by  any  misfortune — a  redeeming 
principle  which  Jesus  and  his  apostles  taught  in  its  most 
perfect  and  effective  form  as  the  "communion  of  saints," 
the  partnership  or  fellowship  of  the  holy  (icoiv&via  TWV 
ayi&v) ;  community  of  property  and  rights  among  all  who 
believe  ;  a  principle  which  good  men  have  been  vainly 
seeking  to  restore  in  some  form  ever  since  the  subversion 
of  Christianity,  in  the  fourth  century,  by  the  agency  of 
numberless  nugatory  statutes  and  associations ;  a  divine 
truth  which  in  its  Christless  forms  of  "communism," 
"socialism,"  and  "Nihilism,"  now  threatens  the  very  exist 
ence  of  law  and  order  throughout  Christendom ;  a  system 
perhaps  impossible  to  any  government  which  recognizes 


HOW  MEN  LIVED  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.    19 

the  legality  of  private-property  rights,  and  is  therefore 
committed  to  Mammon-worship. 

But  these  Christians  had  learned  a  higher  truth  than  any 
known  to  human  laws  :  they  were  the  owners  of  nothing  ; 
they  were  only  stewards  of  their  Lord's  goods  ;  the  wealth 
which  they  accumulated  and  held  for  the  common  good 
was  to  them  "  true  riches " ;  the  wealth  which  any  indi 
vidual  held  for  himself  and  his  own  private  aggrandize 
ment  was  the  "mammon  of  unrighteousness."  Hence  no 
Christian  could  be  in  want  while  the  community  was  pros 
perous  ;  no  community  could  suffer  while  any  other  com 
munities  accessible  to  them  by  land  or  sea  had  anything 
to  spare ;  and  the  faith  of  Christ  made  the  general  pros 
perity  of  all  Christians  insure  the  individual  prosperity  of 
each  one;  so  that  there  were  no  "rich"  and  no  "poor" 
among  them. 

Plato's  dreams  of  a  perfect  community  ("Bepublic") 
admitted  human  slavery — Jesus  Christ  taught  the  free 
dom,  equality,  and  fraternity  of  all  men  :  Sir  Thomas 
More's  "Utopia"  abolished  marriage,  and  proposed  to 
hold  women  in  common — Jesus  Christ  elevated  marriage 
into  a  sacrament ;  denied  man's  right  to  "  hold "  woman 
at  all ;  proclaimed  freedom  and  equality  for  her  also, 
repudiating  the  universal  idea  that  she  was  a  chattel,  and 
teaching  that  she  is  a  soul  endowed  with  the  same  rights, 
duties,  and  responsibilities  as  are  inherent  in  the  soul  of 
man.  Modern  reformers  propose  to  "divide"  out  all 
property,  and  limit  individual  acquisitions  thereof ;  but 
Jesus  proposed  to  divide  out  nothing,  and  to  limit  noth 
ing;  but,  that  all  things  should  be  accumulated,  owned, 


20  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

and  used  in  common,  as  every  one  hath  need,  just  as 
air,  and  sunlight,  and  the  boundless  sea  are  common.  The 
word  "  catholic  "  (icara  6/lof)  was  unknown  to  Jesus  and 
the  New  Testament;  the  word  "common"  (fcoivog)  waa 
the  key  to  all  of  his  teachings,  social,  spiritual,  and  po 
litical. 

The  only  relation  which  these  Christians  sustained  to 
the  "  government "  of  Cyrenaica,  or  to  that  of  Rome,  was 
to  pay  the  taxes  demanded  of  them  ;  and  they  had  no  con 
cern  as  to  who  might  be  emperor  or  proconsul,  except  so 
far  as  these  rulers  might  be  disposed  to  persecute  the 
Christians,  or  otherwise.  They  paid  taxes,  to  avoid  giving 
offense,  even  as  Jesus  himself  had  paid  tribute,  although 
born  under  Roman  rule,  and  not  a  "stranger,"  and  not 
liable  to  pay  tribute  ;  but  they  never  acknowledged  the 
Roman  authority  in  any  other  way.  It  would  have  been 
an  ineffaceable  stigma  on  the  character  of  a  Christian  to 
summon  another  Christian  before  a  civil  magistrate  for  any 
cause;  they  would  not  "go  to  law  before  the  heathen." 
If  any  differences  arose  between  any,  they  left  it  to  some 
of  the  brethren  to  consider  the  matter  and  adjust  it ;  and 
they  considered  themselves  bound  to  abide  by  the  settlement 
reached,  by  bonds  of  faith  and  love  stronger  than  human 
statutes  can  be  made.  If  any  became  careless  of  right  and 
duty,  or  actively  wicked,  his  nearest  friends  remonstrated 
with  him,  and,  if  he  refused  to  abandon  his  sinful  course, 
the  presbyters  reproved  him  ;  and,  if  this  proved  ineffectual 
in  working  out  the  needed  reformation,  they  brought  the 
offender  before  the  Church,  and  either  succeeded  in  draw 
ing  him  back  into  the  right  way,  or,  if  he  proved  incorrigii- 


HOW  MEN  LIVED  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.    21 

ble,  they  simply  refused  henceforth  to  fellowship  with  him, 
and  held  him  as  a  publican  and  a  sinner.  They  never  had 
recourse  to  any  temporal  penalties  to  enforce  the  law  of 
Christian  brotherhood ;  knowing  that  no  one  who  refused 
to  be  controlled  without  the  use  of  force  was  a  Christian, 
they  publicly  disowned  him,  and  that  was  the  end  of  it. 
For  they  had  been  taught  from  the  beginning  that  the  es 
sential  difference  between  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and 
every  other  kingdom  established  upon  earth  consisted  in 
the  fact  that  human  governments  recognize  private  prop 
erty-rights  in  estates,  rank,  offices,  prerogatives,  and  seek 
to  enforce  these  legal,  fictitious  rights  by  temporal  pen 
alties,  contrary  to  reason  and  justice ;  while  Jesus  de 
nounced  all  such  private  rights  as  Mammon- worship,  and 
all  statutes  enacted  to  enforce  them  as  lies  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees ;  and  never  fixed,  and  never  authorized  his 
apostles  to  fix,  any  temporal  penalties  whatever.  They 
understood  perfectly  well  that  the  necessary  and  inevi 
table  result  of  all  law-and-order  systems  is  to  produce 
a  ruling  class  at  the  top  of  every  political  fabric  to 
whom  all  of  its  benefits  inure,  an  oppressed  or  enslaved 
people  at  the  bottom  upon  whose  weary  shoulders  rest 
all  of  the  burdens  and  the  waste  of  life,  and  between 
these  extremes  ecclesiasticisms  and  an  army  (always  on 
the  side  of  the  ruling  classes  and  against  the  multitudes) 
seeking  to  adjust  their  mutual  legal  rights  and  duties 
by  the  agency  of  bayonets  and  prayer — a  system  of  laws 
creating  fictitious  rights,  creating  legal  offenses  by  the 
disregard  of  these  pretended  rights,  and  denouncing  legal 
penalties.  But  they  knew  that  Jesus  died  as  much  for 


22  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

the  children  of  Barabbas  as  for  the  offspring  of  Herod ; 
and  that  every  statute,  custom,  or  superstition  which  at 
tempts  to  make  one  of  the  babies  "better"  than  the 
others  is  a  fraud  on  our  common  humanity  and  a  viola 
tion  of  the  law  of  Christ.  For  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
was  organized  upon  the  basis  of  community  of  rights  and 
property  among  all  who  believe,  thereby  removing  all  in 
ducements  to  commit  such  crimes  as  treason,  larceny, 
and  fraud,  which  exist  only  by  force  of  the  statutes  cre 
ating  and  punishing  them ;  for  civilization  itself  is  the 
parent  of  all  crime  except  murder  or  lust,  which  might 
sometimes  occur  from  the  mere  ebullition  of  brutal  pas 
sion  and  instinct  in  low  and  base  natures.  Hence  those 
Christians,  who  "  called  nothing  they  possessed  their  own," 
regarding  themselves  as  only  stewards  of  the  Lord's  goods, 
held  by  them  for  the  common  good  of  all  believers,  had 
no  use  for  the  Eoman  government  or  any  other,  and 
cared  nothing  for  it  except  so  far  as  taxes  and  persecu 
tions,  imposed  or  omitted,  might  affect  the  temporal  wel 
fare  of  individuals  and  of  the  communities  of  which  they 
were  members.  They  were  citizens  of  a  kingdom  in  but 
not  of  the  world,  desiring  to  be  at  peace  with  all  worldly 
kingdoms.  They  knew  that  Jesus  proclaimed  a  good 
news  or  gospel  for  the  poor,  the  very  foundation-stone 
of  which  is  the  absolute  equality,  liberty,  and  fraternity 
of  man ;  and  they  learned  from  the  same  divine  Teacher 
that  kings,  lords,  nobles,  all  personal  and  class  distinc 
tions  among  men,  are  the  mere  creation  of  legal  fiction, 
sustained  by  unjust  force,  like  slavery  and  piracy,  and 
do  not  exist  in  the  nature  of  things  or  by  the  will  of 


HOW  MEN  LIVED  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.     23 

God ;  and  that  these  laws  are  everywhere  only  the  utter 
ances  of  selfishness  crystallized  into  the  form  of  statutes, 
customs,  or  decrees,  government  over  the  people  being 
nothing  more  nor  less  than,  an  organized  expression  of 
faith  in  the  ancient  lie  that  private  property  (in  estates, 
rank,  or  prerogatives)  is  the  one  thing  sacred  in  human 
life,  and  that  laws  and  penalties  are  necessary  to  main 
tain  it ;  which  faith  is  the  idolatry  of  Mammon,  the  only 
paganism  that  Jesus  denounced  by  name,  and  declared  to 
be  utterly  antagonistic  to  the  worship  of  God.  They 
understood,  therefore,  that  in  place  of  attempting  (as  all 
human  legislators  have  ever  done)  to  provide  a  more  per 
fect  law-and-order  system  for  the  protection  of  private 
rights,  our  Lord  designed  to  abolish  all  private  property, 
and  with  it  all  the  unjust  laws  and  penalties  by  which 
the  worship  of  Mammon  is  maintained.  Hence,  in  place 
of  teaching  to  men  a  better  slave-code  than  the  world 
had  known  before,  Jesus  taught  freedom  for  all  men. 
In  place  of  teaching  a  more  effective  art  of  war,  he  pro 
claimed  the  gospel  of  peace,  love,  justice.  In  place  of 
ordaining  only  more  wise  and  just  regulations  for  govern 
ing  the  intercourse  of  men  with  their  female  chattels,  he 
elevated  monogamic  marriage  into  a  holy  sacrament,  and 
applied  to  man  and  wife  alike  the  same  divine  law  of 
personal  rights,  duties,  and  responsibilities.  In  place  of 
teaching  better  laws  for  the  government  of  men  by  other 
men  as  erring,  sinful,  and  selfish  as  themselves,  he  taught 
that  all  such  laws  and  government  are  unnecessary  to  any 
people  who  believe  that  there  is  something  more  sacred, 
higher,  and  holier  than  private  rights,  and  are  willinsr  by 


24  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

faith  to  renounce  all  human,  statutory  advantages  in  order 
to  acquire  divine  truth. 

So  in  beautiful  Cyrenaica,  while  Greek  and  Roman, 
Egyptian  and  Jew,  concerned  themselves  about  politics, 
and  struggled  for  offices,  and  toiled  beyond  measure  for 
useless  gain,  the  Christian  communities  pursued  the  calm 
and  even  tenor  of  their  way,  meeting  on  every  Sabbath  for 
religious  services  and  instruction  ;  closing  each  week-day's 
labor  with  a  pleasant  formula  of  evening  prayer;  train 
ing  up  their  sons  and  daughters  to  despise  all  the  false 
statutory  and  customary  distinctions  and  vanities  of  world 
ly  life  "after  which  the  Gentiles  seek";  teaching  them 
to  seek  knowledge,  especially  the  knowledge  peculiar  to 
their  faith  ;  to  love  all  men,  especially  the  brethren  ;  and 
to  regard  this  earthly  life  as  but  the  threshold  of  a  high 
er,  holier,  and  more  perfect  state  of  being  that  lay  only 
a  few  brief,  fleeting  years  away  from  every  one  of  them. 
And  so,  while  the  sun  arose  and  set ;  while  the  harvests 
were  grown  and  garnered ;  while  the  pure  and  fadeless 
sea  lapsed  along  the  fertile  garden  of  the  Baucalis  farm, 
and  new  lives  came  upon  the  stage  of  human  action,  and 
older  ones  were  gathered  into  the  rest  appointed  for  all 
the  living,  peace  and  plenty,  charity  and  love,  purity  and 
truth,  blessed  the  dwellers  at  the  stone  cottage  by  the  sea 
side. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FINE  TRAINING   FOR   A   CHRISTIAN   MAN! 

THE  boy  Arius  increased  in  stature,  and  learned,  even 
before  he  had  learned  the  alphabet,  to  think  that  he 
knew  and  loved  the  Lord.  For  from  the  time  that 
he  could  talk,  daily,  after  the  little  family  had  com 
pleted  their  healthful  tasks,  they  spent  an  hour  in  re 
peating  to  him,  and  in  teaching  him  to  repeat  after 
them,  some  simple  passage  out  of  the  New  Testament, 
so  that  the  child  had  memorized  a  whole  gospel  before 
he  had  learned  to  read  the  written  text,  and  become 
familiar  with  the  general  course  of  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures,  particularly  with  the  salient  and  beautiful 
narratives  wherewith  the  sacred  word  abounds.  After  he 
grew  older  his  father  taught  him  both  to  speak  and  write 
the  Latin  and  Hebrew  equivalent  of  every  word  in  the 
Greek  text ;  so  that  Arius  acquired  the  three  languages 
together.  The  father  watched  with  intense  and  painful 
anxiety  to  ascertain  whether  the  singular  affliction  which 
his  mother's  terror  of  the  python  had  entailed  upon 
himself  had  been  transmitted  to  his  son,  and  rejoiced  to 
see  that,  while  some  unmistakable  traces  thereof  appeared 
in  the  boy's  voice  and  manner,  they  were  so  slight  as  not 


26  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

only  not  to  be  unpleasantly  obtrusive,  but  were  even  at 
tractive,  as  perhaps  every  marked  peculiarity,  which  is  of 
a  graceful  character,  is  attractive  in  a  man. 

At  twelve  years  of  age,  Arius  was  an  unusually  tall  and 
slender  lad,  peculiar  in  the  shape  of  his  bold,  shaggy  head, 
peculiar  in  the  length  and  litheness  of  his  shapely  neck, 
peculiar  in  the  mesmeric  luminosity  of  his  dark  and  tender 
eyes,  and  in  the  singular  but  incisive  sweetness  of  his  voice. 
He  spoke,  wrote,  and  read  Greek  and  Latin  with  fluency, 
and  was  well  informed  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  ;  and  yet  he 
was  scarcely  conscious  of  the  fact  that  under  his  father's 
wise  and  careful  training  he  had  been  a  student  almost 
from  his  infancy,  so  steadily,  easily,  and  gradually,  had  he 
progressed  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  The  New 
Testament  written  on  parchments  in  the  uncial  text ;  the 
"Pastor  of  Hennas,"  which,  in  those  days,  was  thought  to 
be  of  almost  apostolical  authority  ;  and  copies  of  some  of  the 
letters  of  Polycarp,  Irenaeus,  and  Clement,  were  almost  the 
only  books  which  Ammonius  owned,  as  the  cost  of  a  li 
brary  in  those  days  was  enormous.  From  these  they  would 
read  a  few  verses  at  a  time,  and  translate  them  into  Latin 
as  they  went  along.  A  presbyter  at  Gyrene  loaned  them 
the  Old  Testament,  from  which  the  boy  copied  and  mem 
orized  such  parts  as  his  father  directed  him  to  learn,  as 
having  the  directest  bearing  upon  the  life  and  doctrine  of 
Jesus.  The  boy  did  his  full  share  of  labor  in  all  the  work 
ing  of  the  farm,  and  took  the  bath  daily  in  the  little  bay  on 
which  it  fronted  (as  in  fact  all  the  family  were  accustomed 
to  do),  and  at  night  father,  mother,  and  son,  read  and  trans 
lated  from  the  Scriptures  ;  and  occasionally  the  boy  was 


FINE  TRAINING  FOR  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN!         27 

made  to  stand  up  and  repeat  by  rote  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Paternoster,  the  Prayer  of  Agur,  the  son  of  Jakeh, 
Paul's  beautiful  hymn  in  praise  of  Agape,  or  some  other 
favorite  passage,  sometimes  in  one  language  and  sometimes 
in  another.  In  these  little  recitations,  as  often  as  the  boy's 
feelings  were  enlisted,  there  came  a  peculiar  and  fascinat 
ing  sibilation  into  his  voice  ;  his  hand,  chiefly  the  right 
hand,  would  move  and  wave  with  a  strange,  easy,  vibrant 
motion,  almost  as  if  it  involuntarily  strove  to  accentuate 
the  syllables  of  the  sonorous  text ;  his  head  would  dart  up 
and  lean  slightly  forward  from  the  long  and  shapely  neck, 
like  the  crest  of  some  splendid  cobra,  peering  forward 
toward  the  hearer,  and  his  dark  eyes  dilated  with  a  strange 
mesmeric  light ;  and  altogether  the  lad  had  a  very  peculiar 
and  impressive  appearance.  But  these  slight  hereditary 
traces  of  the  python's  influence  were  never  unpleasantly 
obtrusive,  and  the  father  did  not  think  it  to  be  necessary 
to  impose  upon  the  son  that  life-long  self-restraint  and  self- 
consciousness  which,  in  his  own  case,  had  been  requisite  to 
guard  himself  against  serpentine  manifestations  of  emo 
tion.  But  his  own  long  and  careful  effort  and  study  in 
this  respect  qualified  him  to  impart  to  the  boy  a  mar- 
velously  distinct  and  peculiar  accentuation,  which  made 
every  word  he  uttered  as  clear  and  perfect  as  a  pearl — as 
distinct  and  resonant  as  trumpet-notes. 

But  while  Ammonius  was  thus  cautious  and  diligent  in 
•raining  his  son  to  acquire  critical  exactness  in  his  knowl' 
>dge  of  the  philology  and  history  of  the  sacred  text,  he 
ras  not  the  less  anxious  to  imbue  his  mind  with  the  very 
pirit  that  distills  upon  the  faithful  heart  out  of  the  words 


28  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  uncorrupted  truth.  This  he  strove  to  do  by  continu 
ally  spurring  the  boy's  intelligence  to  seek  for  the  real  sig 
nificance  of  our  Lord's  life  and  teachings,  the  differences 
between  his  philosophy  and  ethics  and  those  of  other  re 
nowned  moralists  and  teachers ;  the  essential  differences 
between  the  kingdom  which  Jesus  established  in  the  world 
and  all  worldly  kingdoms ;  the  great  fact,  indeed,  that 
Jesus  taught  not  only  the  purest  ethics  in  a  few  sweeping 
principles  which  cover  the  whole  range  of  human  life  and 
experience,  but  taught  also  social  and  political  truth  essen 
tial  to  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  human  rights 
and  liberty.  Yet  the  man's  instructions  were  not  dogmat 
ic  ;  they  belonged  to  no  sect  or  system  of  religion  or  of 
philosophy ;  they  consisted  chiefly  in  exciting  in  the  mind 
of  the  youth  an  honest  desire  to  know  the  truth,  and  of 
questions  and  suggestions  designed  to  aid  him  in  discov 
ering  it  for  himself.  The  manner  of  instruction  generally 
pursued  by  Ammonius  may  be  gathered  from  one  or  two 
of  their  evening  exercises,  like  the  following. 

The  boy  read  this  passage  :  "Now  when  John  had  heard 
in  the  prison  the  works  of  Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  dis 
ciples,  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  he  that  should  come, 
or  do  we  look  for  another  f  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
them,  Go  and  show  John  again  those  things  which  ye  do  hear 
and  see :  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame  walk, 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are 
raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them. 
And  blessed  is  he  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in  me" 

Then  said  Ammonius,  "  What  lesson  dost  thou  under 
stand  to  be  taught  in  this  place,  Arius  ?  " 


FINE  TRAINING  FOR  A   CHRISTIAN   MAN!          29 

"  Obviously  it  teacheth,"  answered  the  boy,  "  that 
John  desired  to  know  of  Jesus  whether  he  might  be  *  he 
that  should  come,'  that  is,  Christ.  In  place  of  answering 
the  question  directly,  he  pointed  them  to  the  miracles 
which  they  saw  him  even  then  performing,  as  if  he  knew 
that  these  wonderful  works  would  be  sufficient  to  satisfy 
John  of  his  divinity.  This  and  other  passages  seem  also 
to  show  that  miracles  are  the  only  proper  evidence  that  can 
be  offered  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ." 

"All  that  is  on  the  surface,"  answered  Ammonius, 
"and  is  well  enough.  But  canst  thou  see  nothing  deep 
er  in  the  words  ?  Is  there  nothing  strange  in  the  answer 
of  Jesus  that  provoketh  inquiry,  or  needeth  comment  ? 
Read  the  passage  again,  Arius,  and  see  what  else  thou 
canst  find  in  it." 

Then  the  lad  reread  the  passage  very  carefully,  and  he 
said  :  "  The  blind  receive  sight :  a  miracle  ;  the  lame 
walk  :  a  second  miracle  ;  the  lepers  are  cleansed  :  a  third 
miracle ;  the  deaf  hear :  a  fourth  miracle ;  the  dead  are 
raised  up  :  a  fifth  and  greater  miracle.  It  seemeth  strange 
to  me  that  our  Lord  should  add,  as  if  it  were  a  greater 
miracle  than  all  the  others,  and  the  crowning  proof  of 
his  Messiahship,  the  fact  that  the  poor  have  the  gospel 
preached  unto  them.  Is  it  a  fact,  father,  that  before  the 
coming  of  Jesus  the  gospel  had  never  been  preached  unto 
the  poor  ?  Was  the  Jewish  scripture  only  for  the  rich  ? " 

Ammonius  smiled,  but  answered  :  "  The  rolls  of  the 
law,  the  Jewish  scriptures,  were  read  on  the  Sabbath-day 
in  every  synagogue,  and  both  the  rich  and  the  poor  were 
required  to  be  present  and  hear  it.  Perhaps  the  gospel 


30  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  which  Jesus  speaks  was  not  in  the  Jewish  scriptures,  or 
else  was  only  taught  in  laws  and  prophecies  which  the 
Jews  had  not  correctly  interpreted." 

"But  it  could  not  have  been  our  gospel,"  said  Arius, 
"  for  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  was  then  written.  I 
wonder  what  this  gospel  was ;  and  why  it  was  good  news 
to  the  poor  rather  than  to  the  rich  ;  and  why  our  Lord 
said  that  whoever  should  not  take  offense  at  the  gospel  was 
blessed.  Why  should  any  one  take  offense  at  it  ?  Why 
did  they  crucify  him  for  proclaiming  it  ?  Why  did  the 
chief  priests  and  rulers  of  the  people  so  bitterly  hate  the 
gospel  ?" 

"  If  thou  wilt  follow  up  these  questions  and  learn  the 
true  answers  thereto,"  said  Ammonius,  "thou  wilt  get 
hold  of  a  fine,  large  truth  !  " 

"  Wilt  thou  aid  me  therein  ?  " 

"  Yea,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  do  so  ;  and  to  that  end  I 
ask  thee  if  thou  canst  tell  what  reason  is  repeatedly  given 
in  the  gospels  why  the  Pharisees  'were  offended'  at  our 
Lord's  teachings  ;  why  they  '  derided '  him ;  in  a  word, 
why  they  hated  him  and  his  gospel  ?  " 

"  Yea  !  The  reason  that  is  always  given  for  their  ha 
tred  of  Jesus  is  that  they  were  '  covetous '  ?  " 

"Dost  thou  think  that  the  fact  that  they  were  rich 
and  covetous  could  account  for  their  rejection  of  their  own 
scriptures,  which  showed  them  the  Messiah  plainly,  and 
in  which  they  all  believed,  unless  the  gospel  which  Jesus 
taught  in  some  way  antagonized  their  legal  right  to  their 
property  ?  " 

"  Nay,  verily,"  said  the  boy.     "  The  gospel  must  have 


FINE  TRAINING  FOR  A  CHRISTIAN   MAN!         31 

interfered  with  their  property,  or  the  fact  that  they  were 
'  covetous '  would  not  be  given  as  the  reason  for  their  ha 
tred  of  Jesus." 

"Then  let  us  examine  what  this  gospel  was  that  was 
'  good  news  to  the  poor. '  Dost  thou  remember  any  other 
place  in  which  the  same  words  occur  ?  " 

"Yea,"  answered  Arius.  "It  is  written  in  Luke: 
"And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up  : 
and,  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  and  stood  up  for  to  read.  And  there  was  de 
livered  unto  him  the  book  of  the  prophet  Esaias.  And 
when  he  had  opened  the  book,  he  found  the  place  where  it  is 
written,  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor :  he  hath  sent 
me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted ;  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives ;  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind ;  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised  ;  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord.  And  he  closed  the  book,  and  gave  it  again  to 
the  minister,  and  sat  down.  And  the  eyes  of  all  of  them 
that  were  in  the  synagogue  were  fastened  on  him.  And  he 
began  to  say  unto  them,  This  day  is  this  scripture  ful 
filled  in  your  ears." 

"  Now  canst  thou  find  the  place  in  Isaiah  referred  to  in 
the  text  ?  " 

"Yea,"  replied  Arius;  "it  readeth  as  follows:  '  The 
spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me  :  because  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings. " 

"Stop,"  said  Ammonius  ;  "thou  seest  that  the  'gos 
pel  '  is  the  same  thing  which  the  prophet  calleth  '  good 
tidings  ? ' " 


32  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"Yea,"  answered  the  lad,  "but  whence  cometh  this 
expression  of  'the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,'  and  what 
signifieth  it  ?  " 

"  It  cometh  from  the  statute  of  the  year  of  jubilee, 
set  forth  at  large  in  the  book  of  Leviticus.  When  thou 
shalt  examine  this  statute  fully,  thou  shalt  find  that  it  is 
emphatically  a  law  against  private  property,  providing  that 
debts  expire  every  seventh  year,  and  that  all  Israel  was 
prohibited  from  seeking  to  make  gain  every  seventh  year, 
and  from  saving  what  they  had  already  made.  Thou  wilt 
see  that  it  was  a  statute  restoring  all  real  estate  every 
fiftieth  year  to  the  original  possessors  thereof,  and  provid 
ing  for  the  release  of  all  prisoners,  the  manumission  of  all 
slaves,  the  cessation  of  all  oppressions — a  year  of  joy  to  all 
that  were  poor  and  afflicted.  Thou  wilt  see  that  Isaiah, 
and  other  prophets  also,  foretold  that  this  great  and  ac 
ceptable  year  of  jubilee  was  simply  a  type  of  the  condition, 
social  and  political,  which  should  be  established  perma 
nently  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  and  that  our  Lord  de 
clared  that  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  himself.  Thou 
wilt  find,  if  thou  shalt  grasp  this  one  truth  in  its  fullness, 
that  the  gospel  which  was  good  news  to  the  poor  was  sim 
ply  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecies  concerning  Christ — 
the  permanent  establishment  of  '  the  acceptable  year ' ; 
and  that  the  Pharisees,  who  were  rich  and  'covetous,'  hated 
the  gospel  because  it  required  all  who  believe  to  hold  all 
rights  and  property  in  common  for  the  good  of  all ;  and 
they  preferred  their  own  selfish  aggrandizement  to  the  com 
mon  good  of  all  ;  and  thou  wilt  see  that  the  chief  priests  and 
rulers  of  the  people  conspired  together  to  crucify  Jesus, 


FINE  TRAINING  FOR  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN!         33 

not  because  they  ever  doubted  his  divinity  and  Messiah- 
ship,  but  because  they  worshiped  Mammon  more  than  God. 
For  the  same  reason,  Rome,  that  welcomed  every  heathen 
superstition  under  heaven,  and  built  a  Pantheon  for  all 
the  gods,  persecuted  the  Christians  from  the  very  be 
ginning,  because  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  is  eternally  op 
posed  to  Mammon-worship,  war,  slavery,  polygamy,  and 
the  princes  and  powers  of  the  earth — a  kingdom  in  which 
Christ  only  is  king,  and  all  men  are  brethren." 

"  And  it  must  have  been  hard  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  said  Arius,  "only  because  he 
had  to  consecrate  all  earthly  possessions  to  the  common 
Church,  and  abdicate  all  human  titles  and  prerogatives." 

"Yea,"  said  Ammonius,  "that  was  the  property-law 
laid  down  by  Jesus  ;  and  it  was  verily  easier  for  a  camel  to 
go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  com 
ply  with  the  law.  But  thou  shouldst  trace  this  truth 
through  all  the  laws  of  the  Jews,  through  all  the  prophe 
cies  and  through  all  the  parables  of  Christ ;  and  thou 
wilt  then  understand  how  the  law  was  a  schoolmaster 
leading  men  to  Jesus.  Thou  wilt  understand  how  it  is 
that  in  the  Church  all  are  free,  equal,  and  fraternal,  while 
in  all  other  kingdoms  there  are  kings,  princes,  lords  ; 
masters,  and  slaves  ;  the  rich  and  the  poor  ;  and  universal 
selfishness,  pride,  ambition,  usury,  extortion,  licentious 
ness,  oppression,  and  wrong  ;  and  thou  wilt  more  and  more 
love  and  worship  our  blessed  Lord  for  establishing  the  only 
system  upon  which  true  liberty  and  true  religion  ever  will 
be  possible  for  the  masses  of  mankind." 

Then  the  bright,  patient,  hopeful  student  resolved  that 


34  ARITJS  THE  LIBYAN. 

he  would  never  cease  to  read  and  to  ponder  upon  the  full 
ness  of  the  gospel  until  he  had  thoroughly  explored  all 
the  possible  bearings  of  the  divine,  social,  political,  and 
spiritual  system  of  our  Lord  upon  human  life,  and  its  rela 
tions  to  all  other  kingdoms  organized  on  earth.  The  lad 
had  learned  more  than  the  meaning  of  an  isolated  text ; 
he  had  found  a  broad  principle  that  rests  at  the  very  basis 
of  all  profitable  reading  and  interpretation  of  the  sacred 
word. 

And  in  this  sort  of  school  he  learned  the  wisdom  of  the 
primitive  Church. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A   PAGAN   HERMIT,    OLD  AND   GRAY. 

AT  the  age  of  sixteen,  the  lad  Arms  was  very  thor 
oughly  informed  in  knowledge  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
as  that  knowledge  had  been  taught  in  the  Church  from 
the  very  days  of  Jesus  and  the  twelve.  In  those  days 
the  only  written  authorities  relied  upon  by  Christians 
were  the  four  gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The 
letters  of  Paul,  especially  those  written  against  Judaism, 
the  epistles  of  Peter,  of  John,  of  Jude,  of  Hermas,  Irenaeus, 
Polycarp,  and  others,  were  held  in  high  esteem  as  the  delib 
erate  utterances  of  wise  and  pious  men  ;  but  even  the  hum 
blest  Christian  never  hesitated  to  quote  the  gospels  and  the 
Acts  against  any  of  them  with  whose  opinions  he  was  dis 
satisfied.  The  wilderness  of  creeds  and  dogmas  which  in 
later  times  grew  up  out  of  these  epistles  was  entirely  un 
known  to  primitive  Christianity  ;  yet  the  perusal  of  them 
was  advantageous  to  the  young  man  in  many  ways.  The 
journeys  of  Paul  aroused  in  his  active  mind  a  keen  desire 
to  know  more  of  the  world,  and  of  the  religion,  manners, 
and  customs  of  other  nations ;  and  the  knowledge  that  Am- 
monius  had  acquired  of  different  lands  and  peoples,  both 
by  his  sea-faring  observations  and  by  such  reading  and 


36  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

conversation  as  circumstances  had  rendered  possible  to  him, 
seemed  to  have  been  absorbed  by  his  son  in  the  long  years 
of  constant  and  affectionate  intercourse  between  them  ; 
and  this  was  no  small  stock  of  information,  for  the  Medi 
terranean  was  then  in  every  sense  the  "  middle  "  sea,  the 
highway  of  the  world  ;  and  it  was  impossible  for  a  shrewd, 
intelligent  ship-owner  and  sailor  like  Ammonius  to  navi 
gate  its  waters  for  years  without  being  brought  into  per 
sonal  contact  with  men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven. 

In  the  same  way  the  lad  had  almost  unconsciously  ac 
quired  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of 
Cyrenaica,  and  in  fact  of  Northern  Libya,  and  could  name 
almost  every  plant,  animal,  bird,  and  insect  in  the  vicinity 
of  Baucalis  ;  so  that  even  at  this  early  age  he  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  future  acquisitions  in  every  department  of 
knowledge  that  was  in  any  way  accessible  unto  him,  and 
had  acquired  a  sturdy  habit  of  independent  thought  and 
examination  about  everything  that  came  within  the  range 
of  his  observation. 

On  Sabbath  evenings  (the  word  Sunday  was  then  un 
known  to  the  Christian  world)  he  loved  to  wander  along 
the  searshore,  or  through  the  wooded  mountains  that  every 
where  around  Baucalis  rose  up  from  the  water's  edge  and 
rolled  away  like  gigantic  and  immovable  billows  high  and 
higher  southwardly  toward  the  great  Barcan  plateau. 

On  one  bright  afternoon  he  had  wandered  farther  west 
ward  than  ever  before,  going  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
land  appurtenant  to  the  farm.  He  was  weary  with  climb 
ing  over  the  endless  hills,  and  reclined  to  rest  upon  a  pro 
jecting  rock  beneath  an  ample  shade  of  forest-trees,  and 


A    PAGAN   HERMIT,   OLD   AND   GRAY.  37 

gazed  away  over  the  calm  and  brilliant  expanse  of  the 
peaceful  Mediterranean.  But  not  long  had  he  rested  there 
when  his  quick  ear  caught  the  sound  of  slow  and  measured 
footfalls  as  some  unseen  person  paced  slowly  back  and 
forth  upon  a  diminutive  plateau  that  stretched  still  far 
ther  westwardly  along  the  mountain-side.  The  intervening 
foliage  hid  the  person  from  sight,  and,  the  lad's  curiosity 
being  aroused  by  the  presence  of  a  stranger  in  a  spot  so 
secluded,  he  quietly  went  forward,  and  a  few  steps  brought 
him  to  the  place  where  this  little  stretch  of  level  ground 
had  been  carefully  denuded  of  trees  and  seemed  to  be  culti 
vated  as  a  garden.  Then  he  saw  a  tall,  gray-haired,  vener 
able-looking  man,  with  downcast  eyes,  and  slow,  deliberate 
step,  coming  in  his  direction  along  a  narrow  walk  that  led 
directly  through  the  cultivated  land.  Almost  at  the  same 
instant  the  aged  man  perceived  him  also,  but  quietly  pur 
sued  his  way,  and,  when  he  had  come  near,  Arius  respect 
fully  bowed  and  saluted  him.  The  ancient  returned  his 
salutation,  and  added  words  which  the  boy  did  not  under 
stand,  but  the  lad  said,  in  the  Greek  tongue,  then  in  com 
mon  use  throughout  Cyrenaica  :  "  I  think  thou  speakest 
the  language  of  Egypt,  which  I  do  not  comprehend.  If 
bhou  wilt  speak  in  Latin  or  in  Greek,  I  can  understand 
:hy  wishes  or  thine  orders." 

The  old  man  gazed  at  him  in  astonishment,  but  an- 
wered  in  the  Greek  tongue  :  "  Surely  thou  art  an  Egyp- 
ian ! — and  in  the  course  of  a  long  life  I  have  never  met 
nth  a  son  of  Egypt  that  could  not  speak  his  mother- 
ongue  if  he  could  speak  at  all  ! " 

"  Yea,  sir,"  answered  Arius,  "  I  am  altogether  a  son  of 


38  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Egypt,  although  born  on  an  adjacent  farm,  but  my  parents 
would  never  use  that  language,  and,  while  they  carefully 
instructed  me  in  Greek  and  in  Latin  and  in  Hebrew,  and 
in  the  Aramean  tongue  of  the  Israelites  now  in  use,  they 
would  never  permit  me  to  learn  an  Egyptian  word." 

"Strange  enough!"  said  the  ancient.  "Dost  thou 
know  any  reason  why  thy  parents  thus  forbade  thee  to  ac 
quire  the  primitive  and  wonderful  old  speech  of  the  land 
of  Kern  ?  " 

"  Yea,  sir,"  answered  Arius.  "  I  have  heard  my  fa 
ther  say  that  in  his  childhood  he  was  placed  in  a  temple 
and  dedicated  to  Ammon,  and  that  when  he  grew  older  he 
liked  neither  the  temple  nor  the  god,  and  fled  away  to 
follow  another  course  of  life  ;  and  I  think  that  he  believed 
the  language  of  the  Nile  region  to  possess  some  peculiar 
power  over  every  son  of  Egypt,  and  that  to  preserve  me 
from  that  influence,  whatever  it  may  be,  he  desired  of  me 
that  I  would  never  seek  to  learn  that  speech — at  least  not 
for  many  years  to  come." 

"  And  thy  father  was  wise,"  cried  the  ancient ;  "for,  if 
ever  the  powers  of  darkness  gave  any  gift  to  man,  it  surely 
was  the  strange  language  of  the  dwellers  by  the  Nile. 
Centuries  before  there  were  any  such  peoples  as  Greeks  and 
Romans,  centuries  before  the  Israelites  became  a  nation, 
so  long  ago  that  the  universe  seems  growing  old  since 
then,  and  the  earth  itself  hath  nodded  out  of  the  line  on 
which  the  mighty  pyramid  was  built  up  to  point  to  the 
polar  star,  even  then,  boy,  the  language  of  Egypt  was  a 
perfect  instrument  of  thought,  adapted  with  superhuman 
cunning  to  the  purposes  of  idolatry,  with  rhythms  and  in- 


A  PAGAN   HERMIT,   OLD  AND  GRAY.  39 

tonations  in  the  utterance  of  it,  that  prick  the  sensuality 
of  human  nature  like  a  goad,  and  deaden  conscience  with 
some  mysterious,  witch-like  power  which  the  intelligence 
can  no  more  resist  than  the  charmed  bird  can  escape  the 
python's  fascination,  and  no  more  explain  than  it  can  ex 
plain  why  the  iron  touched  by  the  magic  stone  pointeth 
for  evermore  unto  the  north.  It  is  the  natural  language 
of  sensualism  and  idolatry,  and  ought  to  be  blotted  out  of 
human  speech.  I  tell  thee,  lad,  thy  father  was  wise  to  for 
bid  thee  from  seeking  to  acquire  that  fearful  tongue  ! " 

"  But  thou  art  thyself  an  Egyptian,"  said  Arius,  "  and 
I  suppose  thou  hast  long  used  the  wonderful  language 
which  thou  dost  condemn." 

"Yea,"  answered  the  ancient,  "but  the  speech  I  use  is 
the  hieratic  form,  invented  by  the  priests  for  the  very 
purpose  of  keeping  their  souls  free  from  the  polluting 
power  of  the  popular  forms  of  speech,  to  which  a  pure 
thought  or  expression  is  well-nigh  impossible.  But  didst 
thou  come  hither  to  seek  me  out, "asked  the  ancient,  "or 
was  thy  coming  accidental  ?  What  is  thy  name  ?  Of 
what  religion  art  thou  ?  Why  hast  thou  come  to  me  ?  " 

The  old  man  spoke  hurriedly  and  apparently  with  much 
anxiety,  and  the  boy  could  not  conjecture  the  cause  of  his 
manifest  excitement,  but  after  a  moment's  reflection  upon 
the  bitter  and  strange  denunciation  of  man's  ancient 
speech,  and  the  subsequent  things  spoken  by  his  com 
panion,  he  replied  in  singularly  musical  and  persuasive 
tones,  the  mesmeric  light  burning  in  his  eyes,  the  bold, 
peculiar  head  erect  and  slightly  bending  forward  toward 
him  whom  he  addressed  :  "  My  name,  sir,  is  Arius  ;  my 


40  ARItTS  THE  LIBYAN. 

coming  hither  is  purely  accidental,  as  I  supposed  this 
mountain -side  to  be  entirely  uninhabited ;  my  religion  is 
that  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ! " 

"  Thou  art  a  Christian,"  said  the  ancient,  in  tones  of 
great  astonishment ;  "so  young  too,  but  clear,  bold,  and 
settled  in  the  new  faith,  as  thy  voice  and  manner  undoubt 
edly  proclaim.  I  am  much  pleased  with  thee,  boy.  Come 
thou  with  me,  where  I  dwell  alone,  for  I  desire  to  speak 
with  thee  more  fully.  Wilt  thou  not  come,  Arius  f  " 

"Willingly,  sir,  if  the  distance  be  not  too  great,"  re 
plied  the  lad. 

"  It  is  very  nigh,"  said  the  ancient ;  and  then  he  turned 
and  followed  the  path  west  for,  perhaps,  fifty  yards,  and 
then  the  path  led  southwardly  for  about  the  same  distance, 
and  stopped  at  an  abrupt  and  densely  wooded  elevation  in 
the  side  of  the  mountain.  Arius  saw  that  a  rough  but  sub 
stantial  stone  wall  formed  the  outside  of  a  room  that  was  for 
the  most  part  composed  of  a  cavity  under  the  rock ;  and 
having  passed  through  a  door,  on  each  side  of  which  was  a 
long,  narrow  window  admitting  light  into  the  apartment, 
the  ancient  said :  "  Here  is  my  dwelling,  Arius ;  come 
thou  within." 

The  room  was  nearly  twenty  feet  square  :  the  floor  was 
smoothly  covered  with  dry,  white  sand,  procured  perhaps 
by  pulverizing  sand-rocks  taken  from  the  mountain  ;  there 
was  a  wooden  table  in  the  middle  of  the  apartment,  above 
which  a  huge  oil-lamp  was  suspended,  and  a  smaller  table 
upon  one  side,  upon  which  rested  a  complete  service  of 
beautifully  fashioned  earthen  plates,  cups,  pitchers,  dishes, 
and  similar  articles.  There  were  several  large  and  com- 


A  PAGAN  HERMIT,  OLD  AND  GRAY.      41 

fortable  chairs  made  of  huge  reeds  curiously  interwoven, 
and  a  couch  constructed  of  the  same  material,  and  covered 
deep  but  smoothly  with  lamb-skins,  dressed  with  the  wool 
on.  Everything  about  the  place  indicated  a  rather  coarse 
but  genuine  comfort,  even  to  the  presence  of  several  beau 
tiful  goats  that  came  with  their  kids  to  the  door  and  gazed 
in  at  the  old  man  with  confidence  and  affection,  as  if  he 
were  a  familiar  and  trustworthy  friend. 

"  Be  thou  seated,  my  son,"  said  the  ancient,  "  and,  if 
thou  wilt  eat,  I  have  here  goat's  milk,  bread,  and  dried  fish 
and  fruits  in  abundance." 

"I  am  not  an  hungered,"  answered  the  lad,  "but  par 
take  of  the  bread  and  milk  to  honor  thy  hospitality,"  which 
he  did,  and  found  both  excellent.  "Thy  very  palatable 
bread,"  he  said,  "is  the  same  with  that  made  at  my  home 
by  Thopt,  and  is,  she  saith,  the  same  that  priests  at  Mem 
phis  always  preferred  to  eat." 

"Even  so,"  replied  the  ancient,  "and  at  Memphis  for 
many  years,  indeed,  I  did  eat  thereof,  and  learned  there 
the  manner  of  the  preparation  of  it." 

And,  when  the  lad  had  finished  his  slight  repast,  the  old 
man  said  :  "  Thou  art  a  Christian,  boy  ;  in  what,  then,  dost 
thou  believe  ?  Tell  me  briefly,  what  dost  thou  believe  ?  " 

Then  the  lad  stood  up  as  he  had  been  accustomed  to  do 
at  home :  the  fine  but  peculiar  head  involuntarily  erected 
itself  upon  his  long  and  shapely  neck,  and  drooped  a  little 
'orward,  a  strange,  scintillant  light  gleamed  in  his  sweet, 
lark  eyes ;  his  elevated  and  extended  right  hand  waved 
,'ently  from  side  to  side  like  the  bdton  of  a  music-master, 
tnd  his  musical,  penetrating  voice  rang  out  clearly  and  in- 


42  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

cisively  as  he  said  :  "  I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Al 
mighty,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only-begotten  Son,  our 
Lord,  who  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate,  dead,  and 
buried  ;  the  third  day  he  rose  from  the  dead,  and  ascended 
into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  whence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  holy 
common  Church,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  in  the  resur 
rection  of  the  dead,  and  in  the  life  everlasting.  Amen  ! " 

"So  thou  belie  vest!"  said  the  ancient.  "But  why 
dost  thou  say  '  only-begotten '  son  ?  Are  not  all  men  the 
sons  of  God,  even  as  the  Greek  poet  saith,  '  For  we  also  are 
his  offspring  ? '  " 

"  Yea ! "  answered  Arius,  "  all  men  are  his  sons  by 
creation,  and  some  of  them  by  adoption — Jesus  alone  by 
generation  ;  he  was  'begotten,'  not  made." 

"True!  true!"  said  the  ancient;  "so  teach  the  gos 
pels,  which  I  have  here  with  me.  So  thou  believest ! 
When  didst  thou  learn  this  faith,  thou  whole  Egyptian  ; 
and  dost  thou  never  doubt  it  ?  " 

"I  know  not  when  I  learned  it,"  answered  Arius;  "I 
was  learning  it  from  my  mother  when  I  lay  helplessly  upon 
her  breast ;  I  was  learning  it  from  my  father  when  he 
dandled  me  upon  his  knees  ;  every  day  and  hour  of  my 
life  I  have  learned  it  more  and  more  ; "  and  then,  involun 
tarily  rising  upon  his  tiptoes,  like  a  python  standing  upon 
its  tail,  with  his  head  erect  and  bending  slightly  forward, 
and  sparkling  eyes  agleam,  he  exclaimed,  "and  I  was  never 
such  an  idiot  as  to  doubt  it  at  all." 


A  PAGAN  HERMIT,  OLD  AND  GRAY.      43 

Then,  as  if  modestly  conscious  of  some  impropriety  in 
such  demonstrative  utterances  in  the  presence  of  one  so 
aged  and  venerable,  he  sank  lower  upon  his  chair  with  an 
ingenuous  blush. 

"  0  glorious  certitude  of  youth  and  hope  ! "  said  the 
ancient,  mournfully.  "  O  bold,  triumphant  faith,  fitting 
its  possessor  for  happy  and  jubilant  exertion  in  the  accom 
plishment  of  all  life's  aims  and  purposes  !  Thou  wast 
'  never  such  an  idiot  as  to  doubt  it  1 '  But  I,  that  have  seen 
nigh  fourscore  years  of  misery,  do  doubt  it  much  and 
painfully.  I  that  have  mastered  all  the  arts,  science,  and 
religion  of  ancient  Egypt — a  land  that  was  wrinkled  with 
age  centuries  before  the  era  of  old  Moses  ;  I  that  know  both 
all  that  the  priests  of  Kem  ever  taught  the  people,  and 
also  the  higher  and  more  recondite  forms  of  ignorance  in 
which  the  priests  themselves  believed — I  verily  know  noth 
ing  !  I  can  scarcely  believe  in  anything  save  universal 
spiritual  darkness,  for  which  no  day-spring  cometh,  and 
universal  wretchedness,  for  which  there  is  no  cure.  0 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  this 
body  of  death  ?  " 

The  bloodless  hands  were  clasped  upon  the  ancient's 
aching  breast,  the  noble  gray  head  was  bowed  with  hope 
less  sorrow,  the  weary  eyes  seemed  dim  with  long  and  bit 
ter  anguish.  Arius  gazed  upon  him  with  astonishment 
and  sympathy.  Then  the  grand  gifts  of  every  born  min 
ster  of  Christ,  the  missionary's  yearning  to  instruct,  the 
ohysician's  longing  for  the  power  to  heal  and  to  strength- 
)n,  moved  in  the  boy's  heart,  and  once  more  he  sprang  to 
lis  feet,  and  with  extended  hand  that  quivered  with  emo- 


44  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

tion  like  the  python's  tongue,  and  tearful,  scintillant  eyes, 
and  head  bent  forward  from  the  long,  lithe  neck,  and  a 
strange  thrill  in  his  vibrant  musical  voice,  he  cried  :  "Who 
shall  deliver  thee  ?  Surely  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  !  He 
saveth  even  unto  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by 
him.  Believe  and  live  ! " 

"  So  !  so  ! "  said  the  ancient,  in  tones  of  hopeless  weari 
ness.  "  Believe  and  live  !  Believe  and  live  !  '  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me  shall  never  die  !  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  again.'  0  new, 
strange  faith,  hidden  through  all  the  dynasties  like  the 
Nile's  undiscoverable  source,  yet  ever  hinted  at  in  the  few 
high,  arid,  half-intangible  truths  in  which  the  priests  of 
Ka  believed  !  What  if  it  be  true  ?  What  if  the  spiritual 
dualism  of  the  first  cause,  which  the  priests  gradually  elab 
orated  into  the  splendid  pageantry  and  elegant  mysticism  of 
Hesiri-Hes,  and  the  offspring  Horus,  has  at  last  become  an 
actual  truth  by  the  incarnation  of  the  spiritual  Son  of  the 
one  God  that  is  necessarily  a  spiritual  hermaphrodite  ? 
Through  the  long  centuries  the  priests  secretly  sneered  at 
the  polytheisms  which  they  taught  to  the  people,  and  they 
did  believe  in  one  God  that  was  utterly  unknown  to  the 
masses  of  mankind,  for  whom  they  had  neither  name  nor 
symbol  ;  and  they  conceived  him  to  be  a  dual  entity,  con 
taining  in  himself  the  fullness  of  double  spiritual  sex- 
hood  ;  and  they  stood  in  awe  of  some  grand  revelation 
which  they  supposed  would  some  time  be  made  to  mankind 
when  this  one,  almighty,  hermaphrodite  spirit  should  '  be 
get  '  with  one  side  of  his  spiritual  nature  and  *  conceive ' 
with  the  other,  and  incarnate  its  son  in  flesh,  and  save  man 


A  PAGAN  HERMIT,  OLD  AND  GRAY.      45 

by  assuming  human  nature.  This  they  saw  foreshadowed 
in  Hesiri-Hes  ;  this  was  the  mystery  which  the  priests  per 
ceived  in  every  Apis,  the  emblem  of  one  '  hidden '  like 
the  fountains  of  the  Nile;  for  in  the  hieratic  language 
Hapi,  which  is  'hidden,'  signifies  both  the  sacred  river  and 
the  sacred  bull ;  for  this  they  prepared  the  mummy  that  a 
body  might  be  ready  for  the  returning  soul  when  '  the 
hidden '  should  be  revealed  ;  this,  the  sacred  scarabaei  dimly 
intimated,  and  this  was  the  secret  mystery  that  lurked  be 
neath  the  veil  of  Hes  that  'no  mortal  hand  hath  lifted.' 
Some  such  glorious  revelation  must  have  flitted  past  Greek 
Plato's  vision,  when  he  longed  for  a  clearer  statement  of 
the  will  of  God  to  men,  and  prophesied  the  coming  man. 
This  was  the  grand  thought  of  Moses,  the  monotheist, 
when  in  the  same  breath  he  denounced  all  forms  of  poly 
theism,  and  yet  designated  the  one  God  whom  he  wor 
shiped  by  a  name  which  is  the  plural  number  of  a  He 
brew  noun "  ;  and,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  the  presence  of 
Arius  altogether,  who  sat  listening  to  this  strange  mono 
logue  with  silent  wonder,  the  ancient  continued  the  uncon 
scious  utterance  of  his  fervid  meditations  :  "So  hath  it 
been  throughout  the  world  with  every  ancientest  form  of 
all  original  myths ;  for  while  Assyria  and  the  Medo-Per- 
sians  and  other  comparatively  modern  nations,  and  after 
ward  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  borrowed  only  the  lower, 
vulgar  forms  which  the  Egyptians  had  fashioned  for  popu 
lar  use,  in  China  Chang  and  Eng  symbolized  the  original 
conception  of  one  dual  God  that  afterward  degenerated 
into  anthropomorphism  ;  and  in  India  Indra  and  Agni,  a 
primitive  conception  that  antedates  Brahma,  Siva,  and 
4 


46  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Vishnu,  by  countless  centuries,  and  is  the  burden  of  the 
ancientest  and  uncorrupted  Rig- Veda,  bears  unequivocal 
testimony  to  the  same  primitive  conception ;  and  the  Bud- 
dhas  taught  that  they  were,  perhaps  believed  themselves 
to  be,  earthly  manifestations  of  the  spiritual  self-concep 
tion  of  one  dual  God  :  for  polytheism  was  never  the  origi 
nal  form  of  any  primitive  nation's  faith,  and  every  people 
that  began  with  paganism  borrowed  from  some  older  na 
tion  in  which  the  original  faith  had  already  been  degraded. 
Strange  !  most  strange  !  Oh,  if  it  could  be  proved  !  If  it 
could  only  be  proved  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is,  in  very 
truth,  the  incarnation  of  that  which  was  to  be  '  begotten ' 
and  '  conceived '  of  the  one  dual  God,  and  born  of  a  woman 
into  the  world,  how  grandly  would  the  fact  vindicate  the 
primitive  utterances  of  all  human  faith,  and  translate  its 
vague  but  splendid  dreams  into  a  glorious  reality  !  It  must 
be  true  !  Surely  it  must  be  true  !  For  among  Egyptians, 
Chinese,  Indians,  and  Jews,  this  original  faith  preceded  all 
idolatries ! " 

Then,  buried  in  profoundest  meditation,  the  old  man 
ceased  to  speak.  But  after  a  time  he  roused  himself,  and 
looking  upon  the  astonished  youth  he  said :  "  And  thou 
believest  all  this !  thou  hast  '  never  been  such  an  idiot 
as  to  doubt  it ! '  Happy  art  thou,  boy,  if  thou  shalt  pre 
serve  unfalteringly  and  unquestioningly  thy  serene  and  all- 
reliant  faith." 

But  the  lad's  sturdy  independence  of  thought  asserted 
itself,  and  he  answered  :  "  Nay,  sir  !  I  have  professed  faith 
in  none  of  the  things  of  which  thou  speakest.  I  believe  in 
one  God  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only-begotten  Son,  and  in 


A  PAGAN  HERMIT,  OLD  AND  GRAY.  47 

the  Holy  Ghost.  I  believe  not  in  Hesiri-Hes,  nor  in  Chang 
and  Eng,  nor  in  Indra  and  Agni,  nor  in  any  gods  which 
Moses  denounced  as  falsest  idols.  Nor  in  Jupiter,  nor 
Venus,  nor  Mars,  nor  in  any  of  the  gods  that  came  into 
fashion  with  the  heathen  long  since  Moses  died." 

The  ancient  smiled  approvingly,  and  replied  :  "  Thou 
art  altogether  in  the  right,  my  son.  Many  of  the  gods 
in  which  the  nations  believe  were  born  long  after  the 
records  kept  by  the  Egyptian  priests  began  ;  but  all  were 
born  of  the  myths  which  Egyptian,  Chinese,  and  Indian 
priests  wove  about  the  grand,  primitive  conception  of  one 
dual  God.  The  idolaters  of  other  lands  received  in  various 
forms  the  mythologies  which  the  priests  wove  about  the 
most  ancient,  simple  faith,  which  was  primarily  the  same 
for  all,  only  the  children  of  Abraham  refused  to  add  any 
thing  to  the  original  conception,  clinging  obstinately  to  the 
primitive  monotheistic  idea  ;  and  yet  Moses  designates  the 
one  God  by  his  name  of  Adonai,  the  plural  number  of  a 
Hebrew  noun  ;  and  when  the  one  God  speaks  of  himself  he 
uses  the  words  'we,'  'our,'  and  'us'  :  Let  us  make  man 
in  our  own  image  and  likeness.  Thou  seest  that  it  would 
be  contrary  to  reason  that  the  original  utterance  of  every 
faith  should  be  the  affirmation  of  God  that  was  one,  and  yet 
more  than  one,  unless  the  divine  being  is  spiritually  her 
maphrodite,  having  a  double  spiritual  sexhood.  Thou 
seest  that,  if  this  were  not  so,  Moses  could  not  have  used 
the  plural  number  to  designate  one  God.  Thou  seest  that, 
if  it  were  not  so,  the  only  act  possible  to  God  would  have 
been  creation,  not  generation  ;  and  thy  faith  in  '  the  only- 
begotten  Son '  must  have  been  false  ;  and  the  very  ancient- 


48  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

est  forms  of  faith  would  have  been  demonstrated  to  be 
merely  impossible  falsehood — impossible,  because  there  can 
not  be  a  falsehood  which  does  not  originate  in  and  grow 
out  of  a  truth  ;  for  falsehood  is  a  perversion  or  miscon 
ception  of  the  truth  ;  for  falsehood  is  not  that  which 
hath  no  existence,  but  is  the  wrong  statement  or  concep 
tion  of  that  which  doth  exist.  If  it  were  not  so,  my  son, 
thy  faith  in  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  would 
be  merest  polytheism,  for  three  are  not  one,  nor  is  one 
three  ;  but  the  three  may  be  one  divine  nature  and  family. 
For  the  one  God  was  always  conceived  of  by  the  primary 
faiths  as  a  dual  being,  possessed  of  both  elements  of 
spiritual  sexhood  perfectly  ;  and  *  begotten '  is  a  proper 
thing  to  say  of  one  side  of  the  dual  God,  and  '  conceived  ' 
is  a  proper  thing  to  say  of  the  other ;  and  so  thou  mayst 
believe,  without  any  imputation  of  polytheism,  in  Christ, 
as  a  being  '  begotten,'  not  created  ;  '  conceived,'  not  made. 
Would  that  I  knew  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  he  !  " 

"This  learning  is  entirely  new  to  me,"  said  the  lad. 
"  Perhaps  it  is  higher  than  I  am  yet  able  to  comprehend. 
I  believe  in  just  precisely  what  the  gospels  say,  no  more, 
no  less  ;  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  only-begotten  Son  of  God, 
conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  before  there  was  a  creation, 
and  born  of  the  Virgin  into  the  world  long  after  God  by 
him  had  made  all  things  that  are  created.  But,  with  thy 
profound  knowledge  of  all  these  mysteries,  how  is  it  that 
thou  thyself  dost  not  believe?  Who  and  what  art  thou, 
thou  ancient,  learned,  yet  unhappy  man,  whom  may  our 
Lord  soon  bless  and  save  ?  " 

"  I  love  thee,  boy,  but  I  am  old,  and  now  too  weary  to 


A  PAGAN   HERMIT,   OLD   AND   GRAY.  49 

talk  more  with  thee.  Wilt  thou  not  come  unto  me  again  ? 
I  desire  to  live  in  seclusion  as  I  have  done  for  years,  and 
beg  of  thee  to  speak  of  me  to  none  ;  but  come  again  thy 
self  whenever  thou  canst . " 

"I  will  return  upon  the  seventh  day  hence,"  said 
Arius,  "and  speak  of  thee  to  none  except  my  father's 
family,  and  thou  wilt  not  be  annoyed  by  them.  And  so 
fare-thee-well,  sir,  and  may  the  peace  of  God  come  upon 
thee  ! " 

"  Amen  ! "  said  the  ancient,  " and  farewell  \K 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE   SEA. 

IK  the  evening  of  that  day  upon  which  Arias  en 
countered  the  strange  old  eremite  upon  the  mountain 
side,  draggled  skirts  of  clouds  swept  across  the  northern 
horizon,  and  distant  lightnings  gleamed  upon  the  waves. 
During  the  night  the  storm  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
before  sunrise  the  wind  roared  wildly  over  the  Baucalis 
farm,  and  the  troubled  sea  broke  in  foam  and  thunder 
for  many  a  league  along  the  coast.  All  day  the  tempest 
raged,  but  with  nightfall  the  clouds  broke  away,  although 
the  turbulent  waves  continued  to  roll  and  tumble  on  the 
coast,  and  the  angry  waters  gurgled  through  the  narrow 
entrance  into  the  little  bay  upon  which  Baucalis  fronted. 
The  dwellers  at  the  farm  watched  the  magnificent  display 
from  their  open  windows,  but  saw  no  sign  of  any  ship  be 
labored  by  the  storm,  and,  after  their  usual  religious  exer 
cises,  retired  to  rest,  thankful  that  there  seemed  to  be  no 
wreck  along  their  coasts.  During  the  night  the  sea  ran 
down,  and  when  Arius,  early  in  the  beautiful  morning, 
went  to  the  garden's  edge  beside  the  water,  there  was  only 
a  gentle  swell  perceivable  upon  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and 
a  faint  murmur  of  the  waters  crowding  into  and  out  of  the 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  51 

narrow  opening  of  the  bay  with  a  gurgling  noise  from 
which  the  farm  derived  its  name.  The  lad  pursued  his 
usual  occupation,  until  his  attention  was  caught  by  a  sound 
under  the  bank  below  him,  as  if  some  one  gently  and  reg 
ularly  struck  upon  the  rock ;  and  the  boy  then  stepped 
forward,  and,  parting  with  his  hands  the  fringe  of  shrub 
and  weeds  that  grew  upon  the  verge  of  the  land,  he  gazed 
down  into  the  waters  of  the  bay,  and  at  once  discovered 
that  the  unusual  sounds  were  made  by  the  striking  of  the 
ends  of  some  spars  that  composed  a  small  raft  against  the 
rock,  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  every  wave.  He  also  saw 
that  two  long  spars  or  fragments  of  a  ship's  mast  had  been 
fastened  across  two  others  so  as  to  form  a  small  square 
between  them,  and  that  a  large  bull's  hide  was  securely 
stretched  over  this  square,  leaving  the  four  ends  of  the 
timbers  extending  beyond  it.  He  also  saw  the  outline 
of  a  human  form  lying  supinely  upon  the  hide,  and  of  a 
smaller  figure,  with  its  head  resting  upon  the  other,  both 
covered  over  with  a  bright-hued  woolen  quilt. 

The  lad  called  loudly  to  his  father,  who  was  at  work  in 
an  adjacent  field,  but  at  a  considerable  distance  from  him, 
and,  as  soon  as  he  had  caught  his  attention,  Arius  sprang 
down  the  bank  to  ascertain  whether  the  persons  so  quietly 
lying  upon  the  raft  were  still  alive.  The  ends  of  the  tim 
bers  projected  far  beyond  the  hide  upon  which  they  lay, 
and  the  boy  found  himself  in  deep  water  almost  at  his  first 
step  from  the  shore  ;  but  he  had  been  accustomed  to  daily 
baths  in  the  bay  from  childhood,  and  without  fear  or  hesi 
tation  he  boldly  dashed  in  between  the  projecting  timbers 
toward  the  hide  on  which  the  bodies  lay.  The  noise  he 


52  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

made  in  calling  Ammonius,  and  in  dashing  through  the 
water,  roused  up  one  of  the  sleepers  on  the  raft,  and  she 
slightly  raised  her  head,  and  with  her  hand  threw  back 
the  woolen  covering,  and  Arius  saw  the  swarthy  face  of  a 
young  Egyptian  girl  of  twelve  turned  upon  him  with 
wide-open,  wondering  eyes.  The  other  form  was  that  of 
a  woman,  but  she  neither  spoke  nor  moved,  and  Arius 
thought  she  must  be  dead.  But  the  girl  did  speak,  and 
the  boy  thought  she  used  the  Egyptian  tongue,  although 
he  could  not  understand  her  words.  Then  he  said, 
"  Maiden,  canst  thou  speak  in  Greek." 

A  swift  gleam  of  intelligence  broke  over  the  child's 
wan  face,  and  she  joyfully  answered  :  "  Yea  !  for  in  Alex 
andria  Greek  is  the  common  speech  of  all,  whether  they  be 
Romans,  Egyptians,  or  Jews  ! " 

"Art  thou  wet?" 

"Yea,"  she  said,  "soaked  in  salt  water  for  I  know  not 
how  long  ;  but  I  have  slept  soundly,  and  mamma  has  not 
even  yet  waked  up." 

"  If  thou  art  so  thoroughly  wet  already,  a  little  more 
water  will  not  hurt  thee  ;  so  put  thine  arms  about  my 
neck,  hold  fast,  and  I  will  carry  thee  to  land. " 

"But  mother  !"  she  cried  ;  and  then  becoming  fright 
ened  that  she  did  not  awake,  she  kissed  her  passionately, 
saying  :  "  Mamma  !  mother  !  wake  up  !  We  have  drifted 
to  the  shore  ! " 

Then  the  poor  lady  murmured  words  that  neither  of 
them  could  comprehend,  but  she  made  no  attempt  to 
move,  and  seemed  to  be  talking  unconsciously.  Then 
Arius  took  the  girl's  hand  in  his,  saying  gently:  "My 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  53 

father  will  soon  be  here,  and  together  we  can  take  thy 
mother  from  the  raft.  Come  thou  with  me.  " 

Then  the  girl  raised  herself  up  into  a  sitting  posture, 
and  Arius,  holding  to  the  spar  with  one  hand,  with  the 
other  drew  her  down  into  the  sea  beside  him,  saying : 
"  Now  put  up  thine  arms  and  hold  on  tightly ;  it  is  but 
H  few  feet  to  the  shore." 

And  the  girl  said,  "  I  can  swim  as  well  as  thou,  but  I 
am  weary  and  cold  and  hungry,  and  will  put  one  hand  on 
thy  shoulder."  And  when  she  had  done  so  the  boy  went 
hand  over  hand  along  the  spar,  and  drew  himself  and  her 
rapidly  shoreward,  until  his  feet  rested  firmly  upon  the 
bottom,  and  then  he  caught  the  child  up  in  his  arms  and 
lifted  her  up  to  the  dry  ground. 

By  this  time,  Ammonius,  coming  with  all  speed,  had 
reached  the  bank  above  them,  and  at  one  swift,  intelligent 
glance  comprehended  the  scene  in  all  its  pitiful  details  ; 
then  he  sprang  down  the  bank  beside  them,  and  said  unto 
Arius,  "  Doth  the  woman  yet  live  ?" 

"  Yea,  father,  she  was  talking  even  now  ;  but  I  scarcely 
think  she  knew  what  things  she  said." 

"  Run  thou  unto  the  house  swiftly,  tell  thy  mother, 
and  bring  hither  a  saw. " 

And  the  boy  sprang  up  the  bank  instantly  and  ran 
homeward.  Then  Ammonius  spoke  kindly  to  the  girl, 
saying,  "  How  farest  thou,  little  maiden  ?  " 

And  the  child  said  :  "I  am  well  enough,  but  wet  and 
hungry.  But  mamma  is  ill.  Please  bring  her  to  the 
land." 

"  Yea,  maiden ;  soon  will  my  son  return  with  a  saw, 


54  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

wherewith  I  can  saw  off  two  of  the  timbers  where  the} 
cross  the  other  two,  and  so  draw  the  raft  up  close  to  the 
land,  and  then  lift  thy  mother  gently  and  safely  to  the 
shore.  Dost  thou  understand  me,  child  ?  " 

"Yea,"  she  answered,  "and  I  see  that  it  is  best  to  wait. 
But  I  want  my  mother  ;  she  is  sick  indeed." 

Very  soon  the  agile  youth  returned,  bringing  the  saw 
with  him,  and  Ammonius  immediately  swam  out  to  the 
bull's  hide,  and  sawed  away  two  of  the  timbers  at  the 
intersection  thereof,  and  quickly  drew  the  raft  close  up 
against  the  shore,  and  took  up  the  quilt  and  cast  it  to  Arius, 
telling  him  to  spread  it  out  upon  the  ground,  and  in  his 
strong  arms  lifted  up  the  unconscious  woman  and  bore  her 
up  the  bank  and  gently  laid  her  upon  the  quilt.  Soon 
Arete  and  old  Thopt  joined  them  ;  and  Arius  and  his 
mother  took  each  an  end  of  the  quilt  upon  which  the 
woman  lay,  and  Ammonius  gathered  up  the  other  two  ends, 
and  they  bore  her  gently  but  swiftly  to  the  cottage ;  and 
old  Thopt  took  the  girl's  hand  in  hers  and  followed  them 
as  quickly  as  her  growing  infirmities  permitted. 

Arete  and  old  Thopt  stripped  the  poor  lady  of  her 
elegant  apparel  that  was  soaked  through  with  sea-water, 
and  rubbed  her  vigorously  with  woolen  cloths,  clothed  her 
with  warm  woolen  gowns  out  of  Arete's  wardrobe,  and 
gave  her  hot  tea  made  of  such  shrubs  as  were  known  to 
their  simple  domestic  pharmacy.  The  sufferer  manifestly 
got  much  relief  from  this  treatment,  but  it  was  only  too 
apparent  that  the  terrible  exposure  to  which  she  had  been 
subjected  had  taken  hold  upon  the  very  roots  of  life  in  her 
beautiful  but  delicate  frame.  Her  unconscious  murmurs 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  55 

were  uttered  in  the  Egyptian  tongue,  and,  no  sooner  had 
old  Thopt  heard  it,  than  a  strange  excitement  seized  her, 
and  she  answered  the  lady  in  the  same  strange  speech, 
crooning  over  her  like  a  mother  over  a  sick  child,  or  more 
like  some  affectionate  animal  licking  its  wounded  young ; 
for  the  Egyptain  speech  evidently  shows  the  syllabication 
into  articulate  sounds  of  thoughts  that  were  primarily  ex 
pressed  in  signs  and  grimaces — the  translation  of  brute 
means  of  communication  into  words ;  and  its  original 
rudimentary  form  is  as  direct  and  unveiled  in  the  expres 
sion  of  passion  and  emotion  as  the  actions  of  an  animal 
could  be. 

The  maiden,  Theckla,  having  been  well  rubbed,  well 
clad  in  dry  garments,  and  well  fed  with  hot  soup  and 
viands,  seemed  almost  free  from  any  ill  effects  of  her  long 
exposure  upon  the  raft ;  and,  being  assured  that  her  moth 
er  was  tenderly  cared  for,  rapidly  recovered  her  strength 
and  spirits. 

The  famous  medical  school  at  Cyrene  educated  many 
men  in  all  the  learning  of  a  profession  which  was  then 
in  its  infancy,  and  so  thoroughly  infested  with  charlatan 
ism  that  even  the  most  eminent  professors  of  the  art  of 
healing  commanded  but  small  respect  among  intelligent 
people  ;  and  the  Christians  especially  had  no  faith  in  their 
pretended  ability  to  cure  disease.  In  ordinary  cases  they 
trusted  to  careful  nursing,  and  the  curative  power  of  na 
ture  in  people  whose  freedom  from  vice  and  whose  simple, 
healthful  manner  of  life  gave  the  patient  every  chance  of 
recovery,  without  the  use  of  incantations,  charms,  and 
poisons,  which  then  constituted  the  chief  resources  of  pro- 


56  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

fessional  pharmacy  ;  and  in  desperate  cases  they  anointed 
the  stricken  one  with  oil,  obtained  the  prayers  of  the 
Church  in  his  behalf,  and  calmly  awaited  the  issue ;  having 
neither  any  inordinate  love  of  life  nor  any  distressful  fear 
of  death,  and  looking  upon  even  a  fatal  issue  of  the  illness 
as  a  change  that  was  often  better  than  recovery — a  happy 
release  from  the  cares  and  uncertainties  of  earthly  life,  that 
was  neither  to  be  too  rashly  sought  for  nor  too  anxiously 
avoided.  Hence  the  women  at  the  farm  themselves  as 
sumed  the  care  of  their  interesting  patient,  and  gave  her 
constant  and  affectionate  attention,  but  no  drugs  except 
such  simple  remedies  as  were  in  common  family  use,  of  all 
of  which  old  Thopt  had  a  very  thorough  knowledge.  The 
old  woman  believed  that  sound  and  refreshing  sleep  is  the 
secret  of  health  and  longevity,  and  that  no  one  would  die  so 
long  as  this  blessing  was  obtainable  ;  and  hence,  in  her  opin 
ion,  the  poppy  was  a  panacea.  The  bark  of  certain  species 
of  the  willow  she  knew  to  be  good  against  malarial  fevers, 
and  this  was  her  favorite  remedy  in  every  disease  which 
manifested  a  remittent  or  intermittent  form.  She  had  no 
hesitation  in  declaring  that  the  lady  would  be  ill  a  long 
time,  and  that  whether  she  would  live  or  die  must  depend 
upon  the  vital  forces  she  had  to  draw  upon ;  for  old  Thopt 
had  always  remained  at  least  a  semi-pagan,  and,  if  there 
was  any  Christianity  in  her,  it  was  inextricably  tangled 
up  with  the  remnants  of  the  old  religion  which  she  had 
learned  in  her  home  upon  the  Nile.  She  loved  her  mistress 
passionately  and  devotedly,  just  as  a  faithful  dog  might 
have  loved,  and  she  refused  to  accept  the  freedom  offered 
to  her  by  Arete  when,  under  the  influence  and  instructions 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  57 

of  Ammonias,  that  lady  had  become  a  Christian  ;  because 
one  of  the  fixed  and  immovable  articles  of  her  ancient 
creed  was  that  many  Egyptians  were  created  to  be  slaves, 
and  that  she  was  one  of  them  ;  so  that  it  would  have  been 
a  measureless  impiety  for  her  to  set  up  herself  to  be  free. 
If  she  had  any  hatred  of  the  new  religion,  it  grew  out  of 
the  fact  that  that  faith  undertook  to  abolish  the  relation 
of  mistress  and  slave  between  Arete  and  herself.  She  had 
not  undressed  and  washed  her  patient  without  immediately 
perceiving  that  she  was  one  of  that  aristocratic  class  who 
had  come  into  the  world  to  enjoy  all  of  its  advantages,  and 
to  be  waited  upon  by  slaves,  as  was  demonstrated  to  old 
Thopt's  satisfaction  by  the  fineness  of  her  kilt,  girdle,  and 
gown,  and  by  the  delicate  pink-color  of  her  flesh  beneath 
it ;  and  the  old  woman  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  or 
ganizing  a  rebellion  against  Anubis,  the  jackal-headed  god 
himself,  as  to  have  thought  of  withholding  proper  rever 
ence  and  care  from  the  superior  being  who  had  been  cast 
upon  her  guardianship.  So  that  the  Christian  charity  of 
Arete  and  the  inborn  sense  of  duty  and  obligation  which 
generations  of  inherited  servitude  had  made  second  nature 
in  old  Thopt  combined  to  secure  faithful  and  untiring 
care  in  behalf  of  the  sick  woman,  and  one  or  the  other  of 
them  was  in  attendance  upon  her  day  and  night. 

But  as  Ammonius  had  carried  her  from  the  raft  to  the 
land,  and  on  the  way  up  to  the  house,  he  had  heard  her 
utter  unconsciously,  in  the  Egyptian  language,  disjointed 
sentences  which  caused  him  much  anxiety ;  and,  as  soon 
as  her  immediate  wants  had  been  attended  to,  he  charged 
the  family  that  they  were  not  in  any  way  to  apprise  the 


58  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

lady  that  she  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Christians  until 
such  time  as  he  might  deem  it  proper  to  instruct  them 
otherwise  ;  but  that  they  should  be  as  diligent  in  their  care 
of  her  as  if  she  had  been  the  sister  of  them  all.  Before  the 
close  of  the  first  day's  watching  beside  her  patient,  Arete 
found  ample  reason,  in  the  lady's  feverish  revelations,  for  the 
injunctions  which  her  husband  had  given  concerning  her. 
She  talked  almost  incessantly :  now  of  her  home  in  Alexan 
dria;  now  of  the  rulers  of  Egypt;  now  of  her  husband 
Amosis,  and  of  her  daughter ;  now  of  some  special  mission 
which  Amosis  had  undertaken  at  Home ;  now  of  the  fearful 
tempest ;  now  of  a  desperate  struggle  upon  the  raft  between 
her  husband  and  some  one  else,  in  which  both  had  fallen 
into  the  sea  together.  The  substance  of  this  disjointed 
and  feverish  babbling  left  no  doubt  upon  Arete's  mind  that 
the  lady's  husband  was  in  the  service  of  the  rulers  of 
Egypt,  and  high  in  the  confidence  of  both  the  priests  and 
of  the  government ;  nor  that  he  was  a  bitter  adversary  of 
the  Christians  ;  nor  that,  when  overtaken  by  the  tempest, 
he  was  on  his  journey  to  Rome,  to  obtain  from  the  Em 
peror  larger  authority  to  persecute  the  Christians,  even  to 
extermination,  in  Egypt  and  throughout  Northern  Libya. 
She  gathered  also  that  when  the  officer  and  his  wife  and 
child  had  betaken  themselves  to  the  raft  as  their  last  hope 
of  safety,  some  one,  seeing  that  all  order  and  discipline  were 
lost,  inflamed  by  a  guilty  passion  for  the  beautiful  woman, 
had  leaped  upon  the  raft  with  them  as  it  was  leaving  the 
vessel's  side,  and  that  a  desperate  struggle  had  occurred  be 
tween  the  husband  and  the  intruder,  in  which  both  had 
fallen  into  the  sea  ;  and  that  the  lady  herself  regarded  the 


FLOTSON   OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  59 

very  name  of  Christians  with  detestation  and  horror,  and 
fully  sympathized  with  her  husband's  purpose  to  perse 
cute  them ;  and  she  had  expected  him  to  reap  great  and 
rapid  advancement  from  his  zeal  against  the  churches. 
And,  although  not  unconscious  of  the  element  of  danger 
lurking  in  their  intercourse  with  such  a  conscientious  hater 
of  Christianity,  Arete  felt  even  larger  compassion  for  her 
beautiful  patient's  pagan  darkness  than  for  her  physical  ill 
ness  ;  but  she  fully  realized  the  propriety  of  her  husband's 
caution  upon  the  subject. 

And  so  the  weary  days  went  by,  and  on  the  sixth  morn 
ing  the  fever  broke,  and  left  the  poor  lady  with  restored 
consciousness,  but  physically  as  weak  and  helpless  as  an 
infant. 

During  these  days,  Arius  and  Theckla  had  become  fast 

friends.     She  was  a  beautiful  child,  but  an  Egyptian  of  the 

aristocratic  class.     Her  hair,  which  was  as  black  as  jet, 

curled  profusely  all  around  and  over  her  shapely  head  in 

luxuriant  masses.     Her  forehead  was  low  and  broad,  the 

face  a  perfect  oval  from  the  full  temples  to  the  point  of  the 

plump,  delicate,  projecting  chin,  while  the  small,  full-lipped 

mouth  was  red  as  a  cherry,  the  upper  lip  notably  short  and 

voluptuous.     The  black,  arched,  delicate  eyebrows  nearly 

met  at  the  root  of  the  high,  straight,  delicately  chiseled 

aose,  and  the  large,  dark  eyes,  soft,  black,  and  fathomless, 

'ree  alike  from  fire  and  languishment,  were  of  a  kind  found 

lowhere  on  earth  except  along  the  Nile — full,  wide-open 

yes  that  seemed  calm  and  untroubled  as  the  sightless  orbs 

f  any  sphinx,  yet  full  of  mystery  as  is  the  old,  old  land 

f  Kem.     Arius  soon  discovered  that  the  girl  was  remark- 


60  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ably  bright  and  quick,  but  that  she  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  all  the  instruction  she  had  ever  received  (and  she 
had  been  very  carefully  taught)  having  been  communi 
cated  by  oral  teaching.  Her  native  tongue  was,  of  course, 
that  of  Egypt,  but  she  spoke  Greek  with  fluency,  and 
Latin  also,  but  with  difficulty  and  hesitation. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  she  had  been  res 
cued  from  the  waves,  the  boy  and  girl  were  playing  and 
chatting  together  in  the  shade  before  the  cottage.  The 
sun  was  just  sinking  beyond  the  distant  mountain-range, 
when  the  girl  said,  "  Do  you  go  at  sunrise  or  at  sunset  ?" 

"  Go  whither  ?  "  said  Arius. 

"Why,  to  worship  Mentu,  or  Atmu,  of  course!  Do 
you  not  worship  ?  " 

"  Worship  whom  ?  "  asked  Arius. 

"  Oh,"  she  answered,  "  old  Ea,  or  Ptah,  or  Hesiri-Hes, 
or  the  other  gods,  any  of  them  you  prefer  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  worship  any  of  them,"  said  Arius. 

"Perhaps,  then,"  said  Theckla,  "thou  art  an  atheist, 
and  hatest  all  of  the  gods  ;  and  that  is  very  wrong.  For 
papa  says  that  the  atheists  are  little  better  than  the  Chris 
tians  themselves,  and  that  it  is  owing  to  their  evil  influence 
that  so  many  young  people  in  Alexandria  are  growing  up 
to  believe  in  nothing.  But,  blessed  be  the  gods,  I  have 
been  brought  up  in  religion  ! " 

"And  which  of  the  gods  dost  thou  love  and  worship 
most?" 

"I  love  none  of  them  surely,  but  I  fear  and  wor 
ship  Ptah,  Ra,  and  Hesiri-Hes,  the  cross  old  things  ;  be 
cause  mamma  says  that  they  are  the  most  respectable  ;  and 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  61 

I  fear  them  much,  especially  the  terrible,  implacable,  piti 
less  Ma-t." 

"  But  do  you  not  think,"  said  Arius,  "  that  you  would 
rather  worship  some  loving,  compassionate,  and  holy  deity, 
whom  you  could  love,  and  obey  because  you  loved  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that  would  be  funny,  would  it  not  ?— for  a  girl 
to  fall  in  love  with  a  god  !  I  never  thought  of  such  a 
thing  before,  but  I  believe,"  she  added,  with  an  arch  glance 
at  Arius,  "  that  I  would  like  a  really  nice  handsome  boy 
better  than  any  of  the  plebeian  gods  ! " 

"What  dost  thou  mean,  Theckla,  by  saying  'the  ple 
beian  gods ' ?  " 

"Oh,  I  mean  the  new-fangled  deities  that  have  come 
into  fashion  during  the  last  two  or  three  thousand  years 
— the  cheap,  low-priced  divinities  worshiped  by  the  slaves 
and  by  the  mechanics,  like  Sebek,  the  crocodile-headed, 
and  all  that  contemptible  crowd.  Mamma  says  that  we — 
that  is,  the  nobility,  you  know — ought  not  to  pay  any  at 
tention  to  any  of  them  except  the  dreadful  old  gods,  like 
Ra,  Ptah,  Hesiri-Hes,  and  the  other  ancient  divinities ; 
because  our  own  family  is  older  and  more  honorable  than 
any  of  them  except  the  high,  dreadful  old  fellows  that 
have  lived  forever.  Still,  boy,  thou  hadst  better  worship 
even  the  wretched  Sebek  than  to  be  an  atheist  or  a  Chris 
tian  ;  for  papa  says  so. " 

Then  the  boy's  heart  yearned  to  tell  the  beautiful 
pagan  of  the  God  in  whom  he  believed,  but,  remembering 
iis  father's  caution  on  that  subject,  he  chose  rather  to 
ivoid  further  conversation  of  the  kind,  and  started  off  to- 

vard  the  bay  to  take  his  evening  bath. 
5 


62  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  Whither  goest  thou  ?  "  asked  the  little  maiden. 

"  I  am  going  to  the  bay  to  take  a  bath,  as  I  do  daily." 

"  That  will  be  fine  sport,"  she  cried,  "  and  I  am  going 
with  you  ! " 

And  Theckla  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  ran  along  beside 
him.  The  boy  reached  the  water's  edge,  and,  casting 
aside  the  loose  gown  habitually  worn  about  the  farm,  he 
plunged  into  the  bay  and  struck  out  from  the  shore,  the 
play  of  his  limbs  being  almost  unimpeded  by  the  close-fit 
ting  under-garment  reaching  from  the  neck  to  midway  of 
the  thigh  ;  and  instantly  the  young  girl,  whom  old  Thopt 
had  arrayed  in  the  short,  sleeveless  kilt  and  long  gown 
which  the  women  usually  wore,  threw  off  her  outside 
gown  and  plunged  in  after  him,  exclaiming :  "  Oh,  it 
is  nicer  than  Lake  Mareotis  !  But  I  have  swum  with 
papa  from  the  great  Pharos  to  the  Kibotos  in  the  little 
harbor  of  Eunostos  ! "  and  she  swam  after  the  boy  as 
gracefully  as  a  mermaid.  Soon  she  caught  up  with  him, 
and,  having  placed  her  little  hands  upon  his  head,  she 
suddenly  straightened  out  her  arms  with  all  her  strength, 
and  raising  herself  up  with  a  lithe  and  joyous  spring 
above  him,  with  all  her  weight  she  plunged  his  head 
down  far  beneath  the  surface,  and  swam  laughingly  away. 
The  boy  came  up  instantly  and  pursued  the  fleeing  maid 
en,  and  as  soon  as  he  could  catch  up  with  her,  which 
was  no  easy  task,  he  said,  "Thou  shalt  go  under  too, 
Theckla ! "  but  she  was  so  excellent  a  swimmer,  and  so 
quick  and  active,  that  for  a  long  time  she  baffled  all  his 
efforts  to  get  her  head  beneath  the  waves.  She  laughed 
and  struggled,  and  defied  him,  and  exulted  greatly  that 


FLOTSON  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SEA.  63 

he  was  not  able  to  give  her  such  a  ducking  as  she  had 
given  him,  until,  at  last,  he  wound  his  long  arms  around 
her,  pinioning  both  of  hers,  and,  clasping  her  to  his  bosom, 
stood  straight  up,  and  they  sank  together  until  his  feet 
touched  the  bottom,  from  which  he  sprang  upward  to  the 
surface.  Then  the  lad  kissed  her  and  released  her,  saying, 
"  Wilt  thou  dip  me  again,  Theckla,  or  hast  thou  had 
enough  of  it  ? " 

But  the  girl  clasped  her  hands  above  her  head,  threw 
herself  suddenly  downward,  and  for  a  moment  her  little 
feet  flashed  above  the  water  as  she  dived,  and  instantly 
afterward  she  clasped  the  boy's  legs  in  her  arms  and 
pulled  him  again  beneath  the  surface,  and  rose  above  the 
waves  before  he  had  recovered  himself.  And  so  they 
sported  in  the  calm  waters  of  the  bay  until  the  twilight 
began  to  thicken  over  the  valley,  when  they  started  for  the 
shore,  and  the  girl  swam  beside  him  as  lightly  as  a  gull, 
and,  having  thrown  their  long  gowns  around  them,  hand 
in  hand  they  walked  back  to  the  cottage. 

Theckla's  first  inquiry  was  of  her  mother,  and,  finding 
that  she  continued  ill,  she  obstinately  refused  to  leave  her 
after  it  grew  dark,  even  for  a  moment,  but  stretched  her 
self  out  upon  the  couch  beside  her  and  slept  until  morning. 

So  it  was  every  evening.  During  the  day-time  Arius 
was  her  favorite  companion,  but  she  seemed  to  have  an  un 
conquerable  aversion  to  darkness,  and  would  not  leave  her 
mother's  side  while  it  continued.  Ammonius  told  them 
to  let  her  have  her  own  way,  as  terror  of  the  dark  hours 
was  part  of  the  old  religion  in  which  she  had  been  raised. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THECKLA   FINDS  ONE  GOD  AND   HEARETH   OF  ANOTHER. 

So  passed  the  days  away,  and  Arms  and  Theckla  be 
came  as  firmly  bound  to  each  other  as  if  they  had  been 
raised  together  all  their  little  lives.  On  the  second  day 
after  her  coming,  Arius  had  resumed  his  usual  tasks  in  the 
garden  and  in  the  fields  ;  and  when  he  came  home  at  noon 
tide  she  seemed  rejoiced  to  see  him,  and  demanded  with 
playful  imperiousness,  "  Where  hast  thou  been  all  the 
morning,  Arius  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  at  work  in  the  garden,"  replied  the  boy. 

"At  work!"  she  exclaimed;  "digging  with  thy 
hands  ?  Why,  thou  art  not  a  slave  ! " 

And  the  boy  answered,  laughing  merrily  :  "  Nay,  I  call 
no  man  master ;  I  am  as  free  as  any  Caesar  !  " 

"  Why,  then,  dost  thou  work  ?  Verily,  I  thought  that 
none  but  slaves  and  mechanics  ever  labor." 

"  But  thou  dost  greatly  err.  It  is  true  that  some 
Greeks,  Eomans,  and  Jews,  suppose  that  none  ought  to 
labor  except  those  whom  they  call  '  vile '  ;  or  rather  they 
call  all  who  labor  '  vile,'  but  I  do  not  accept  their  mon 
strous  definitions,  having  been  thoroughly  taught  that  the 
only  man  who  is  free  is  he  who  lives  by  his  labor  without 


THEOKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  65 

dependence  upon  relatives,  or  upon  the  offices  which  are 
distributed  by  the  favoritism  of  the  dissolute  and  wicked 
creatures  whom  they  call  emperors,  Caesars,  proconsuls, 
and  such  titles ;  and  I  am  free-born,  and  will  maintain 
my  liberty." 

"  Why,  then,  dost  thou  toil  ?  " 

"  Because  we  need  to  toil  in  order  to  live  comfortably 
and  independently,  as  we  are  not  rich,  and  do  not  desire 
to  be  so ;  but  I  never  will  be  any  man's  servant.  And, 
also,  because  it  is  noble  and  right  to  toil  in  some  way,  and 
every  one  who  is  not  idiotic,  deformed,  or  afflicted,  is  un 
fit  to  live  unless  he  follows  some  honorable  and  useful 
vocation." 

"Thou  art  the  very  nicest  boy  I  know,"  she  said, 
"  but  it  seemeth  so  strange  to  me  that  thou  shouldst  labor 
with  thy  hands,  and  shouldst  talk  as  if  thou  didst  be 
lieve  that  it  is  good  and  not  degrading  to  do  so.  I  never 
heard  such  things.  But  I  will  go  with  thee  this  after 
noon  and  see  what  thou  doest." 

"Thou  mayst  do  so,"  said  Arius,  "and  thou  mayst 
help  me  with  my  work  if  thou  wilt." 

But  the  little  maiden  held  up  her  hands  that  looked 
like  delicate  wax- work,  and  laughingly  cried  out,  "Even 
with  these  hands  ?  " 

"Yea,"  said  the  boy,  merrily,  "even  with  those,  ten 
der  and  pretty  as  they  are." 

So  after  the  midday  meal,  when  Arius  went  back  to 
the  patch  of  onions  at  which  he  was  at  work,  Theckla 
accompanied  him,  and  stood  awhile  watching  him  as  he 
dug  up  the  tubers. 


66  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  What  is  to  be  done  with  these  ?  "  she  asked. 

"They  are  to  be  gathered  up  into  little  heaps,  and 
carried  hence  to  the  house,  and  stored  away  until  wanted.'" 

"  Why,  I  can  pile  them  up  for  you,"  she  cried,  and 
straightway  she  began  to  gather  the  onions  up  as  fast  as 
the  boy  dug  them,  saying  :  "  I  wonder  what  mamma  would 
think  if  she  knew  I  was  learning  to  work  ?  But  it  is 
good,  and  I  will  help  thee  every  day." 

"Thou  shalt  not  weary  thyself,"  said  the  boy,  "and 
thou  shalt  quit  as  soon  as  thou  dost  desire  to  do  so." 

But  she  would  not  stop,  and  continued  at  the  task  for 
several  hours,  until  it  was  completed,  seeming  to  be  de 
lighted  with  her  newly  discovered  ability  to  be  of  use. 

"  What  other  work  hast  thou  to  do  ?  " 

"Nothing  else,  Theckla,  except  to  take  some  salt  to 
the  cattle  in  the  pasture,  beyond  the  field,  and  thou  mayst 
go  into  the  house.  I  will  not  be  long  absent." 

"  But  I  will  not  go  to  the  house,  Arius ;  I  will  go  with 
thee,  and  see  the  large-eyed  beasts." 

"  Come  on,  then,"  said  the  boy,  and,  taking  up  the 
bag  of  salt  which  he  had  brought  from  the  barn,  he  led 
the  way  along  the  shore  of  the  little  bay  until  they  had 
passed  beyond  the  field,  where  they  came  upon  the  edge 
of  the  pasture-land,  and  there  Arius  scattered  the  salt 
along  a  great  trough  of  wood,  to  which  some  of  the  cattle 
had  hurried  up  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  boy,  and  others 
came  one  after  another,  until  more  than  a  score  were  con 
tentedly  licking  up  the  salt ;  and  among  them  a  fine  bull- 
calf  that  was  peculiarly  marked.  The  kindly-treated  herd 
were  tame  and  fearless,  and,  as  soon  as  young  Theckla 


THEOKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  67 

saw  the  bull,  she  gazed  at  him  with  the  most  intense  in 
terest,  and  ran  up  to  the  animal,  crying  out,  excitedly  : 
"  Lo,  the  god  !  the  god  !  the  beautiful  young  Apis  ! " 

"  What  dost  thou  mean  now  ?  "  said  Anus. 

"Why,  boy,"  she  answered,  joyously,  "thou  art 
the  most  fortunate  boy  that  ever  lived.  Seest  thou  not 
the  god — the  sacred  bull — the  beautiful  young  Apis  ? 
Seest  thou  not  the  black-colored  hide ;  the  triangular 
white  spot  upon  his  forehead  ;  the  hairs  on  his  back 
roughened  out  into  the  form  of  an  eagle;  the  crescent 
white  spot  upon  his  right  side  ?  Oh,  if  he  hath  a  knot 
under  his  tongue  in  the  shape  of  a  scarabaeus,  the  sacred 
beetle  of  Ptah,  he  hath  then  all  the  marks  that  reveal  the 
bull  to  be  a  god  I  Wilt  thou  not  look  under  his  tongue 
and  see  ?  " 

The  boy  gazed  upon  her  with  mingled  pity,  amuse 
ment,  and  contempt.  He  had  read  and  heard  of  the  wor 
ship  of  idols  and  of  beasts,  but  had  never  before  witnessed 
an  actual  exhibition  of  such  idolatry.  "Why,  Theckla," 
he  answered,  "  the  bull  is  no  more  a  god  than  thou  art  a 
cow.  I  am  amazed  that  so  sensible  a  girl  should  be  capa 
ble  of  such  folly  as  to  think  this  beast  a  god." 

"  But  he  is  an  Apis,  Arius,  and  the  priests  of  the  tem 
ple  at  Memphis  would  give  thee  his  weight  in  gold  for 
him.  They  would  come  hither  in  a  royal  procession  to 
carry  him  hence ;  they  would  keep  him  for  forty  days  at 
Nilopolis,  and  for  forty  days  at  Memphis,  and  the  noblest 
of  the  women  in  the  city  would  go  in  naked  and  worship 
him  ;  and  he  would  be  fed  like  a  great  king  as  long  as  he 
lives,  and  when  he  dies  he  would  become  an  Osor-hapi,  a 


68  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

great  god,  and  would  secure  thy  soul.  Surely  the  priests 
must  know  that  he  is  a  great  god,  or  they  would  not 
build  such  grand  temples  in  honor  of  Apis,  and  worship 
him  with  such  magnificent  and  costly  ceremonies  and 
processions.  I  verily  fear  that  thou  art  an  atheist,  Arius, 
but  I  have  been  raised  up  to  be  religious,  and  I  know." 

"  Theckla,"  answered  the  boy,  "  I  can  take  a  goad  in 
my  hand  and  drive  this  sort  of  a  god  whithersoever  I  will ; 
I  can  catch  his  tail  in  my  hands  and  twist  it  until  he  shall 
bellow  with  pain.  If  thou  wilt  hold  out  to  him  an  ear  of 
corn  in  thine  hand,  he  will  follow  thee  about  like  a  dog ; 
and  thou  callest  the  beast  a  god  !  Theckla,  I  am  verily 
ashamed  of  thy  foolishness." 

But  the  young  girl  looked  gravely  at  her  companion, 
and  said  in  tones  of  solemn  warning  and  reproof  :  "Arius, 
thou  dost  not  believe  in  Ka,  Ptah,  Shu,  Seb,  Set,  Mentu, 
Atmu,  nor  in  Hesiri-Hes ;  and  thou  dost  laugh  at  the 
sacred  Hathors,  and  thou  dost  mock  the  bull-god  Apis ! 
— Boy,  dost  thou  believe  in  anything  ?  Or  art  thou  an 
atheist?" 

"Yea,"  cried  Arius,  laughing,  "I  believe  thou  art  the 
brightest  and  the  prettiest  little  pagan  in  the  world ;  and 
some  time  I  shall  explain  to  thee  what  I  believe,  and  con 
vince  thee  of  the  folly  of  thy  polytheistic  and  idolatrous  no 
tions.  But  not  now,  for  thy  god  and  the  other  beasts  with 
him  have  salt  enough,  and  we  must  return  home." 

They  went  back  along  the  bay-shore,  and  the  sun  was 
nigh  the  tops  of  the  distant  mountains  ;  and  Arius,  walk 
ing  a  little  in  advance  of  Theckla,  heard  a  sudden  plunge 
into  the  water,  and  looking  back  he  saw  the  little  maiden 


THECKLA  FINDS   ONE   GOD.  69 

swimming  boldly  out  into  the  bay,  and  immediately  he 
plunged  in  after  her.  They  swam,  dived,  raced,  scuffled, 
and  sported  in  the  pure  and  healthful  element  until  twi 
light  began  to  gather  over  the  lowlands,  and  then,  hand  in 
hand,  they  wandered  back  to  the  cottage,  Theckla  going 
immediately  to  her  mother's  apartment,  whose  side  she 
would  not  leave  so  long  as  the  night  lasted — a  horror  of 
darkness  being  incident  to  the  Egyptian  religion,  derived, 
perhaps,  from  the  grand  midnight  ceremonies  of  the  Mem- 
phian  priests  in  which  annually  with  torches  and  pro 
cessions,  and  weird  and  impressive  wailings,  they  celebrated 
the  world-wide  search  of  Isis  for  the  dismembered  body 
of  the  consort  whose  mangled  limbs  the  hatred  of  the  evil 
Seth  had  scattered  about  the  earth. 

Theckla  wanted  to  tell  her  mother  about  the  wonderful 
young  Apis,  but  old  Thopt  peremptorily  enjoined  silence 
upon  her,  and  forbade  the  sick  lady  to  talk  in  her  present 
excessively  debilitated  condition.  For  it  was  manifest 
that  her  recovery  was  exceedingly  doubtful,  and  that  even 
the  slightest  excitement  or  effort  might  be  fatal  to  her. 
She  lay  quietly  enough,  and  while  she  recognized  Theckla, 
and  seemed  to  understand  the  few  Egyptian  words  spoken 
to  her  by  Arete  and  old  Thopt,  which  were  carefully 
limited  to  repeating  to  her  that  she  had  been  very  ill,  and 
must  remain  entirely  quiet,  and  neither  talk  nor  even 
think,  she  seemed  almost  to  have  forgotten  the  shipwreck 
and  the  loss  of  her  husband  ;  and  the  two  women  who 
watched  her  devotedly  even  doubted  whether  she  knew  that 
she  was  away  from  home.  They  looked  forward  with  great 
anxiety  to  the  time  when  she  might  grow  strong  enough  to 


70  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

shake  off  this  healthful  lassitude  of  extreme  exhaustion,  and 
realize  her  unhappy  circumstances.  But  the  recent  past 
seemed  to  have  been  blotted  out  of  her  memory,  and  she 
lay  quiet  and  uncomplaining,  apparently  content  with  her 
surroundings ;  and  the  anxious  nurses  carefully  avoided 
everything  that  could  even  by  chance  arouse  her  drowsy 
intelligence,  and  renew  the  consciousness  of  grief  that 
seemed  to  slumber  in  her  brain. 

The  Sabbath-day  came  round  again,  and,  with  the  rising 
of  the  sun,  young  Theckla  bounded  out  of  her  mother's 
room,  calling  aloud  for  Arius.  It  was  usual  on  the  Sab 
bath  for  the  family  at  Baucalis  to  go  to  some  house  of  a 
Christian  in  the  vicinity,  where  would  be  gathered  together 
a  small  assemblage  of  the  faithful  for  religious  services,  or 
to  have  the  neighbors  assemble  at  the  farm  for  the  same 
purpose.  On  this  day,  however,  Arete  and  old  Thopt 
would  be  necessarily  detained  at  home  by  the  illness  of  the 
Egyptian  Hatasa ;  and  Ammonius,  who  still  thought  it 
prudent,  both  upon  her  account  and  upon  his  own,  not 
to  inform  her  that  she  was  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  a 
family  belonging  to  the  hated  sect  that  was  everywhere 
spoken  against,  and  that  was  persecuted  throughout  Libya 
even  more  bitterly  than  elsewhere  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
ordered  that  Arius  should  take  charge  of  Theckla  for  the 
day,  and  determined  himself  to  go  to  the  assembly,  in 
order  to  consult  certain  of  the  brethren  about  his  future 
course  in  reference  to  his  involuntary  guests.  Arius  then 
informed  his  father  about  the  singular  recluse  he  had  met 
with  upon  the  mountain  on  the  preceding  Sabbath,  of  his 
promise  to  visit  him  upon  that  day,  and  asked  his  permis- 


THEOKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  71 

gion  to  go,  saying  that  he  would  take  Theckla  with  him 
if  his  father  had  no  objection  to  suggest,  and  would  invite 
the  singular  and  learned  old  man  to  visit  them.  To  this 
Ammonius  readily  gave  his  consent,  and  Arius  thereupon 
told  Theckla  of  the  facts,  and  invited  her  to  accompany 
him,  to  which  she  enthusiastically  assented.  The  farm 
vineyard  produced  a  wine  almost  identical  with  the  famous 
Mareotic,  which  was  praised  from  the  month  of  the  Nile 
to  Athens  and  to  Home.  It  also  produced  figs,  pomegran 
ates,  apricots,  peaches,  oranges,  citrons,  lemons,  limes,  and 
bananas,  which  the  Christians  commonly  called  the  "  fruits 
of  paradise,"  because  in  that  latitude  they  were  in  season 
the  whole  year  through.  It  also  produced  various  melons, 
among  them  a  delicious  watermelon,  yellow  on  the  inside, 
lotus,  and  olives.  In  their  garden,  also,  grew  the  rose,  the 
jasmine,  the  lily,  the  oleander,  chrysanthemums,  gerani 
ums,  dahlias,  helianthus,  and  violets,  and  they  could  raise 
almost  every  vegetable  known  to  both  tropical  and  tem 
perate  zones. 

Arius  procured  a  basket,  and  enlisted  the  services  of 
old  Thopt  by  telling  her  that  he  was  about  to  visit  an 
ancient  Egyptian  hermit  who  dwelt  alone  upon  the  moun 
tain,  and  desired  to  take  him  a  lot  of  good  things  to  com 
fort  his  loneliness ;  and  that  kind-hearted  creature  soon 
had  a  few  bottles  of  excellent  wine,  some  bread-loaves  of 
finest  flour,  and  quite  an  assortment  of  choice  fruits,  both 
preserved  and  fresh,  packed  into  the  basket,  the  whole 
jrowned  with  a  beautiful  bouquet  plucked  by  Theckla's 
lainty  fingers.  Arius,  bearing  his  basket,  and  followed 
>y  the  agile  girl,  pursued  his  way  along  the  little  bay 


72  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

until  he  had  passed  by  it  westwardly,  and  then  began  the 
long  but  gradual  ascent  of  the  mountain,  upon  a  small 
plateau  of  which  dwelt  the  aged  eremite.  In  less  than  two 
hours  they  had  reached  the  plateau  in  front  of  the  hermi 
tage,  and  soon  beheld  the  ancient  seated  near  his  own  door, 
his  weary  eyes  gazing  far  away  over  the  brilliant  expanse 
of  the  Mediterranean.  The  approach  of  the  two  young 
people  caught  his  attention,  and  with  a  genial  smile  the 
old  man  welcomed  them.  Taking  the  girl's  hand  in  his 
own,  he  murmured  :  "  She  is  a  bright  and  lovely  child, 
and  a  true  daughter  of  Kem  "  (the  Black-land).  He  spoke 
in  the  Egyptian  language,  which  he  knew  Arius  did  not 
understand,  but  the  girl  answered  in  the  same  tongue  : 
"Yea,  father,  I  am  from  To-mehit"  (the  North-land), 
"and  was  born  in  Alexandria." 

Then  the  ancient  said  with  surprise  :  "  How  is  it  that 
thou  speakest  Egyptian,  when  thy  brother  knoweth  no  word 
of  the  strange  old  language  ?  Or  is  he  thy  brother  ?  " 

This  he  said  in  Greek,  and  Arius  answered,  "Nay, 
she  is  not  my  sister,  but  is  a  guest  in  my  father's  house." 

Then  he  succinctly  narrated  the  story  of  the  rescue  of 
Theckla  and  her  mother  from  the  raft.  The  old  man 
listened  with  much  interest  to  the  boy's  graphic  recital ; 
and  then,  turning  to  Theckla,  be  said  :  "  Child,  art  thou, 
too,  a  Christian  like  thy  friend  Arius  ;  or  art  thou  still  in 
bondage  to  the  false  and  fearful  gods  of  Kem  ?  " 

Then  the  girl  showed  in  her  speaking  face  her  loathing 
and  abhorrence  for  the  very  name  of  Christ,  and  turning 
hastily  to  Arius  she  cried  :  "Art  thou,  then,  a  Christian? 
Belongest  thou  to  that  accursed  and  criminal  association  ? 


THECKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  73 

Oh,  say  it  is  not  so,  or  I  will  never,  never  love  thee  any 
more  ! " 

But  the  boy  drew  himself  up  proudly  and  answered  : 
"Yea,  Theckla,  I  am  a  Christian,  thank  the  boundless 
mercy  of  God  !  And,  when  thou  shalt  have  learned  what 
it  is  to  be  a  Christian,  I  trust  that  thou  wilt  follow  Jesus 
thyself,  and  love  me  and  all  other  Christians  more  and 
more.  For  verily  we  are  not  such  a  people  as  thou  hast 
been  taught  to  believe  us  to  be,  any  more  than  our  bull  is 
a  god,  as  thou  didst  suppose." 

"I  do  not  very  much  believe  in  Apis,"  she  said,  "but 
the  common  people  do.  Ah  !  Arius,  I  am  so  sorry  to  hear 
this  thing  of  thee  !  Why,  if  my  mother  had  known  that 
ye  were  Christians,  she  would  sooner  have  died  upon  the 
raft  than  have  gone  into  thy  father's  house,  or  to  have 
suffered  any  one  of  you  to  touch  her  with  your  hands. 
Oh,  I  am  so  vexed  to  find  that  thou  art  connected  with  such 
a  people  ! " 

Then  said  Arius  :  "  Thy  mother  is  well  cared  for  ;  and 
"hou  must  let  her  know  nothing  until  she  hath  become 
stronger ;  thou  wouldst  only  distress  her  by  informing  her 
>f  the  fact  of  our  being  Christians,  and  it  could  do  no  good 
o  tell  her." 

Then  the  girl  drew  nigh  to  him  with  tearful  eyes,  and 
rossed  her  little  hands  upon  his  shoulder,  and  leaned  her 
iead  against  them,  and,  looking  up  into  his  eyes  with 
orrow  and  tenderness,  said  :  "  Ye  have  been  so  good 
nd  kind  to  both  of  us,  that  I  can  not  help  loving 
U  the  people  at  thy  home,  and  I  do  love  thee,  al- 
lough  thou  art  a  Christian  ;  but  it  is  a  terrible  thing ; 


74  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

for  papa  says  that  to  be  a  Christian  is  worse  than  to  be 
an  atheist." 

These  things  all  occurred  in  a  moment,  and  the  ancient, 
seeing  that  it  had  not  been  the  purpose  of  Arius  to  inform 
the  maiden  concerning  his  religion,  and  that  he  himself 
had  unwittingly  brought  about  the  disclosure  of  the  fact, 
said  unto  them  :  "Come  within  and  be  seated,  my  chil 
dren  ;  I  desire  to  talk  to  both  of  you." 

And,  when  they  had  gone  within,  Arius  set  his  basket 
upon  the  old  man's  table,  saying  :  "  I  have  brought  unto 
thee  wine,  bread,  and  fruits,  as  a  token  of  my  reverence  for 
thine  age  and  learning.  I  desire  to  be  friendly  with  thee." 

The  old  man  seemed  to  be  much  touched  by  the  boy's 
speech  and  manner,  and  gently  answered  :  "I  thank  thee, 
truly,  and  far  more  for  thy  kind  words  than  for  any  gifts. 
Not  often  do  the  ancient  enjoy  the  friendship  of  the  young, 
although  nothing  else  on  earth  can  be  more  pleasant  unto 
them." 

"But  the  heart  of  a  Christian  needeth  renewal,"  said 
Arius,  "if  it  be  not  always  both  young  enough  to  sympa 
thize  with  the  youngest,  and  old  enough  to  sympathize 
with  even  the  very  oldest.  The  very  core  of  our  religion  is 
the  Agape,  a  love  which  is  not  measured  by  age  nor  acci 
dent,  but  goeth  out  freely  to  every  one  that  needeth  it." 

The  old  man  looked  upon  the  boy  with  wonder,  saying  : 
"  That  is  beautiful,  indeed  ;  there  is  no  such  truth  in  any 
other  religion." 

And  the  girl  said,  "  That  is  good  and  strong,  Arius, 
although  it  be  a  Christian  dogma." 

Then  the  ancient  said  :  "I  desire  that  ye  will  listen  to 


THEOKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  75 

me  carefully  for  a  moment,  and  thou  especially,  Theckla. 
Children,  I  am  nigh  upon  fourscore  years  of  age.  My 
name  is  Am-nem-hat.  In  mine  infancy  I  was  placed  in  the 
great  temple  at  Thebes,  and  dedicated  to  the  service  of 
Amen-Ka,  Mut,  and  Kuhns,  the  Theban  triad.  My  family 
was  ancient  and  honorable  in  Egypt,  and  their  influence 
and  wealth  opened  the  way  for  me  to  all  priestly  honors 
and  learning.  I  remained  in  that  temple  fifty  years,  during 
twenty-five  of  which  I  was  a  priest,  and  I  gradually  mas 
tered  all  the  wisdom,  learning,  and  mysteries  of  the  priest 
hood,  until  my  fellows  determined  that  I  should  be  ele 
vated  to  the  highest  rank  in  the  sacerdotal  service,  and  I 
was  ordained  and  inaugurated  to  be  high-priest  at  Ombos, 
where  I  continued  for  five-and-twenty  years  longer.  The 
triad  which  throughout  all  Egypt  is  worshiped  as  Hesiri- 
Hes,  and  Horus,  we  at  Thebes  worshiped  as  Amen-Ra, 
Mut,  and  Kuhns,  and  at  Ombos  as  Ptah-Pukht  and  Imho- 
tep.  .  But,  while  during  all  these  years  I  exercised  the  func 
tions  and  exhausted  the  learning  of  the  priesthood,  I  for 
ever  sought  after  Ma-t,  the  Goddess  of  Truth,  she  that  in 
her  own  hall,  in  the  lower  world,  is  called  Two  Truths,  by 
whom  the  dead  are  judged. — Dost  thou  know  something  of 
the  fearful  Ma-t,  young  Theckla  ?  " 

"  Yea,"  answered  the  girl,  with  a  perceptible  shudder, 
"  I  know  her  well,  and  tremble  at  the  dreadful  thought  of 
icr  !  So  wise  !  so  hard  and  pitiless !  so  tearless,  and  yet 
so  just !  The  terrible  Ma-t,  without  mercy,  incapable  of 
ove,  unmoved  by  hate,  implacable,  emotionless,  the  fearful 
udge,  the  Truth  1 " 

"  Then  listen  to  me,  child  !     I  worshiped  through  all 


76  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

these  lonely  years  as  a  faithful,  conscientious  priest,  and 
memorized  the  book  of  the  dead,  and  studied  the  myster 
ies  of -medicine,  of  astronomy,  and  of  mathematics,  and 
sought  unceasingly  to  know  the  awful  Ma-t !  Dost  thou 
think  that  I  am  one  who  ought  to  know  whether  any  of  thr 
gods  of  Kem  are  true  or  false  ?  " 

Then  Theckla  fell  upon  her  knees  before  the  ancient 
priest,  and  lifting  her  little  hands  to  him  she  cried  :  "  Yea, 
father,  thou  knowest  !  Ancient,  honorable,  learned  priest, 
thou  knowest !  Teach  thou  Arius  to  believe  in  the  three 
great  gods,  to  seek  the  awful  Ma-t,  and  to  abandon  the 
pernicious  Christian  faith,  for  thou  art  wise  !  thou  know 
est  all  the  truth  ! " 

"  Listen  then,  Theckla.  Five  years  ago,  driven  by  the 
quenchless  curiosity  of  an  unsatisfied  but  earnest  soul,  I 
caused  to  be  brought  before  me  one  who  preached  to  men 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  because  I  had  heard  that 
these  Christians  were  irreclaimable  from  the  errors  of  their 
superstition,  and  I  desired  to  test  the  question  whether  they 
could  be  persuaded  to  return  unto  the  old  religion.  I  kept 
him  with  me  many  days,  while  we  discussed  these  things, 
and  then  sent  him  from  me  unconvinced.  And  afterward 
I  fled  from  the  temple  secretly,  in  an  open  boat,  in  which 
I  had  placed  my  most  valuable  possessions,  and  floated 
down  the  Nile.  Thence  I  wandered  along  the  coast  to 
Alexandria,  where,  for  a  great  sum,  secretly  I  purchased  all 
the  sacred  writings  of  the  Jews  and  Christians,  and,  after 
many  days  more  of  wandering  along  the  coast,  I  found 
this  spot  and  have  since  then  dwelt  here  alone,  still  seeking 
for  the  truth.  For — art  thou  listening  to  me,  Theckla  ? — a 


THEOKLA  FINDS  ONE  GOD.  77 

horror  of  great  darkness  had  fallen  upon  my  soul.  I  know 
that  Amen-Ra,  Mut,  and  Kuhns,  are  not  true  gods  !  Apis 
is  nothing  but  a  bull ;  Anubis  is  only  a  jackal ;  Sebek  is  a 
crocodile  and  nothing  more  ;  and  even  the  most  ancient 
gods,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  them  at  all,  are  only  the  visi 
ble  emblems  of  some  higher  truth  which  the  very  priests 
have  forgotten,  if,  indeed,  they  ever  knew  it.  I  have 
hoped  and  half  expected  to  find  that  this  unknown  truth, 
this  '  hidden '  thing  which  is  not  Hapi,  might  be  that 
which  the  Christians  promulgate  ;  but  this  I  do  not  know. 
Nevertheless,  my  child,  I  tell  thee  that  the  gods  of  Kem 
are  no  true  gods ;  and  I  counsel  thee  to  learn  of  Arius 
that  which  he  believeth  !  For  falsehood  is  not  profit 
able  ;  and  I  realize  that  all  my  days  have  been  consumed 
in  learning  and  in  teaching  only  errors ;  and  it  is  sad 
and  terrible." 

Both  of  them  heard  the  old  man's  confession  with  awe 
and  sympathy,  and  when,  overcome  by  strong  emotion,  he 
had  ceased  to  speak,  Theckla  gave  way  to  a  passionate 
burst  of  tears  ;  but,  as  soon  as  she  could  regain  her  self- 
control,  she  turned  to  the  ancient  and  with  strange  ear 
nestness  exclaimed,  "0  Father  Am-nem-hat,  high  and 
honorable  priest,  hast  thou,  too,  become  a  Christian  ? " 

"Nay,"  replied  the  old  man  solemnly,  "I  have  only 
learned  the  bitter  lesson  that  the  gods  of  Egypt  are  all 
false  :  I  have  not  found  a  true  God  yet,  if  any  such 
there  be." 

"Thou  shalt  yet  find  him,"  cried  Arius,  "to  the  joy 
and  consolation  of  thy  spirit,  and  thine  old  age  shall 

be  filled  with  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  under- 
6 


78  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

standing ;  for  he  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to  him  that 
knocketh  shall  it  be  opened." 

Then  they  were  all  silent  for  a  time.  Then  some  of 
the  kids  came  up  to  the  door,  and  Theckla,  oppressed 
with  the  sadness  and  solemnity  of  the  last  few  minutes, 
sprang  up,  crying  out :  "  0  the  pretty,  happy  kids  !  May 
I  go  out  and  play  with  them  ? " 

And  the  old  man,  with  a  pleasant  smile,  answered, 
"Yea,  my  child,  if  thou  wilt  not  leave  the  plateau." 

And  Theckla  bounded  out  of  the  house,  and  was 
soon  engaged  in  a  lively  romp  with  the  sportive  young 
goats. 


CHAPTER  VIZI 

WHO   IS   HAPI  ? 

THE  absence  of  Theckla  gave  Arius  the  opportunity 
he  desired  to  call  out  from  Am-nem-hat  a  fuller  expres 
sion  of  certain  theological  ideas  suggested  by  the  ancient 
during  their  first  conversation,  the  remembrance  of  which 
had  been  the  subject  of  frequent  meditation  ever  since ; 
and  the  boy  said  :  "  Since  I  last  saw  thee,  Father  Am- 
nem-hat,  many  circumstances  have  combined  to  prevent 
me  from  giving  to  the  things  which  I  heard  from  thee 
that  careful  consideration  which  I  desired  to  bestow  upon 
them ;  yet  I  have  pondered  much  upon  those  philosophic 
views  which  thou  didst  utter  concerning  the  dualism  of 
God.  I  desire  to  hear  more  fully  thereof ;  for  although 
I  know  that  Christianity  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  practi 
cal,  experimental  thing,  concerning  the  heart  and  the  life 
of  a  man  rather  than  a  philosophical  or  theological  sys 
tem,  concerning  which  Jesus  himself  had  naught  to  say, 
as  if  he  preferred  to  leave  dogmas  and  ceremonies  to  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  so  that  it  is  possible  for  one  to  be 
a  genuine  and  faithful  Christian  with  little  knowledge  of 
philosophy  or  of  science,  yet  it  behooves  the  young  espe 
cially  to  seek  for  information  concerning  every  question 
that  can  arise  out  of  the  faith." 


80  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"Thou  must  understand,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "that 
I  do  not  assume  to  be  a  teacher  of  thy  religion.  Being 
set  free  from  the  bondage  of  Egyptology,  and  left,  as 
it  were,  without  any  religion  for  the  last  five  years,  I 
have  given  much  time  and  study  to  Christianity,  read 
ing  the  Scriptures,  of  course,  by  the  light  of  all  that  I 
have  learned  of  other  systems,  and  seeking  only  to  dis 
cover  the  truth.  There  is  one  thing,  which  I  had  long 
supposed  to  be  true,  which  recent  thought  and  investiga 
tion  seem  to  establish  beyond  any  great  room  for  doubt. 
That  thing  is  the  fact  that  the  old  Egyptians  believed 
the  human  spirit  to  be  of  divine  origin,  engaged  through 
out  earthly  life  in  a  warfare  between  good  and  evil,  and 
that  its  final  state  was  determined  after  death  by  a  sol 
emn  judgment  rendered  according  to  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body.  This  warfare  continued  through  all  the  dynas 
ties  alike  until  during  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  the  priest 
hood,  fearing  that  the  principle,  or  god  of  evil,  was  about 
to  triumph,  got  together  and  obtained  a  royal  decree, 
ratified  by  the  sacerdotal  order,  to  banish  Seth  (the  evil 
god)  out  of  Egypt,  and  out  of  the  religion  of  Kem ;  but 
this  action  failed  to  have  that  salutary  influence  which 
had  been  expected  from  it.  The  fact  itself  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  singular  one  in  Egyptian  history ;  but  our  sa 
cred  records  leave  no  doubt  that  the  royal  and  sacerdotal 
authorities  united  in  a  solemn  decree  for  the  banishment 
of  Seth,  in  order  to  secure  the  future  safety  of  the  hu 
man  soul.  I  have  just  as  little  doubt  that  originally  they 
believed  in  one  supreme  God,  who  was  conceived  of  as 
a  dual  being,  combining  in  himself  both  the  poles  of  spir- 


WHO  IS  HAPI?  81 

itual  sex-hood  perfectly,  and  giving  birth  to  a  third  di 
vinity,  by  which  the  triad,  that  is  constantly  repeated 
under  different  names,  was  made  complete.  Hence  I  de 
clared  to  thee  that  nothing  could  save  the  Christian  faith 
from  the  imputation  of  polytheism  except  the  assump 
tion  that  the  God  of  the  Christians,  like  the  original 
myth  of  all  primitive  faith,  hath  in  himself  a  double 
spiritual  sex-hood,  of  which  Christ  is  the  Son,  'begotten,' 
not  created;  'conceived,'  not  made;  divine,  because  as 
the  son  of  man  is  human,  the  Son  of  God  must  be  di 
vine.  If  this  is  not  true,  then  the  Christ  of  these  Scrip 
tures,  no  matter  how  pure  and  exalted  he  may  have  been, 
was  either  a  created  being,  or  else  he  was  only  a  mere 
appearance,  a  mere  simulacrum  of  Deity,  a  pious  fraud, 
who  merely  seemed  to  live  among  men,  and  to  die  for 
their  justification,  but  did  not  do  so  in  reality." 

The  old  man  paused  at  this  point,  but  the  boy,  keep 
ing  steadily  in  view  the  matter  which  had  aroused  his 
own  interest  in  the  conversation,  said,  "  But  are  there 
any  proofs  of  the  divine  dualism  and  trilogy  of  which 
thou  hast  so  confidently  spoken  ? " 

"I  think  so,"  said  the  ancient,  "but  the  original  idea 
has  been  overlaid  and  hidden  for  countless  centuries  by  the 
myths  and  symbolisms  and  external  ceremonies  devised  by 
ancient  priests  to  express  them  for  the  common  people, 
until  the  priests  themselves  perhaps  only  dimly  perceived 
the  original  truth,  and  regarded  the  symbolism  itself  as 
true — a  most  bare  and  flagrant  idolatry.  For  when,  at 
some  indefinite  yet  very  remote  period,  religion  became 
blended  with  government  and  the  priests  sought  rather  to 


82  ARITJS  THE   LIBYAN. 

control  public  affairs  than  to  maintain  a  true  worship, 
the  religious  idea  became  so  degraded  that  the  sun,  which 
was  originally  only  the  symbol  of  a  higher,  unseen  God, 
was  mistaken  for  a  God  itself,  and  worshiped  as  such  ; 
and  this  degradation  increased  with  ages,  until  finally  any 
one  who  could  build  a  sculptured  sarcophagus,  and  pay 
for  the  embalming  processes,  ritualistic  prayers,  incan 
tations,  charms,  and  ceremonies,  was  declared  to  be  in 
Hesiri  justified.  According  to  the  inscriptions  on  the 
sepulchres,  no  rich  man  was  damned,  and  respectability 
on  earth  and  salvation  after  death  were  dependent  upon 
money  alone.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  in  the  way 
of  restraining  one's  self  from  evil,  nothing  to  be  done  in 
the  way  of  active  benevolence.  The  chief  business  of  an 
Egyptian's  life  was  to  acquire  sufficient  wealth  to  build 
a  costly  tomb,  and  the  most  expensive  event  in  a  man's 
experience  was  his  funeral.  Hence  the  rich  were  all  saved, 
and  the  poor  were  mostly  condemned,  without  regard  to 
personal  character  and  action.  Yet  all  the  while  the  most 
pious  and  learned  of  the  priests  clearly  perceived,  even 
through  the  mists  of  error,  superstition,  and  selfishness, 
which  debased  the  ancient  faith,  the  primitive  truth  that 
God  was  one — a  dual  being  that  was  to  become  a  triad  by 
the  generation  of  a  Son." 

"I  think,"  said  Arius,  "that  I  comprehend  the  argu 
ment  ;  yet  I  desire  to  hear  the  proofs  of  this  divine  dual 
ism  more  explicitly  stated." 

"  The  proofs  thereof,  derived  from  the  dualism  in  the 
original  faith  of  the  most  ancient  races  (as  the  Egyptian, 
Indian,  and  Chinese),  and  from  the  fact  that  the  mono- 


WHO   IS  HAPI?  83 

theist  Manes,  or  Moses,  called  his  one  God  by  a  name  which 
is  the  dual  or  plural  number  of  a  Hebrew  noun,  have  al 
ready  been  suggested  to  you.  But,  in  the  ancient  religion 
of  Egypt,  this  dualism  pervaded  the  whole  system  every 
where.  There  was  even  a  dual  name  for  everything — the  one 
common,  the  other  sacred  or  hieratic.  The  ancient  name 
of  Egypt,  'Kern,'  signified  both  the  '  Black-land'  and  also 
the  *  black  man  '  or  people.  The  local  name,  Mizraim,  was 
a  dual  word,  signifying  both  upper  and  lower  Egypt,  in 
which  '  To-mehit '  was  the  north-land,  and  *  To-res,'  the 
south -land,  and  the  sacred  name  of  the  river,  which  the 
Greeks  call  the  Nile,  was  '  Hapi ' ;  and  the  same  word  was 
applied  to  Apis,  the  bull-god  ;  and  in  both  cases  the  word 
was  used  to  denote  *  the  hidden,' '  the  concealed,'  the  source 
of  the  Nile  being  believed  to  be  undiscoverable,  and  the 
being  of  whom  Apis  was  originally  the  symbol  being  yet 
'  hidden,'  '  unrevealed.'  No  matter  where,  or  by  what 
name,  the  one  supreme,  self-existent,  self-productive  Crea 
tor  of  all  things  was  worshiped,  he  was  originally  wor 
shiped  as  a  dual  entity,  a  double  god,  at  once  father  and 
mother  of  a  third  manifestation  that  was  always  a  son. 
Primarily  Apis,  'the  hidden,'  'the  concealed,'  simply 
meant  that  this  third  person  was  yet  unrevealed  ;  but  just 
as  Ra  (the  sun),  originally  the  symbol  of  the  one  God,  be 
came  substituted  for  God  himself,  afterward  Apis  becomes 
the  real  ( hidden  '  thing,  of  which  he  was  primarily  only  a 
symbol,  and  his  spiritual  form  seems  to  have  become  Ho- 
rus.  Yet  Ra  is  rarely  associated  with  a  female  consort ; 
but,  when  he  is  so,  it  is  always  with  a  female  Ra,  and  never 
with  an  inferior  being.  But,  even  after  this  idolatry  be- 


84  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

came  established,  the  higher  priests  preserved  the  original 
idea  of  a  dual  god,  to  be  made  a  triad  by  the  generation  of 
a  son  ;  and  everywhere  in  Egypt,  no  matter  by  what  local 
names  their  gods  were  called,  this  trilogy  was  affirmed 
in  every  temple.  The  very  essence  of  the  ancient  Egypt 
ology,  therefore,  is  the  idea  of  one  dual  god,  that  becomes 
a  trilogy  by  the  generation  of  a  son.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  the  most  ancient  form  of  the  Indian  and  Chinese 
polytheisms.  Thou  must  perceive,  therefore,  that  in  the 
original  faith  of  all  the  primitive  nations,  the  divine  being 
is  Father-mother,  which  is  one  dual  God,  and  a  son.  If, 
therefore,  the  Christian  religion  presents  the  idea  of  a  spir 
itual  dualism  made  a  trilogy  by  the  generation  of  a  son, 
it  maintains  the  very  idea  of  the  Deity,  which  is  the  core 
of  all  the  primitive  religions — Egyptian,  Indian,  Chinese, 
and,  I  think,  Jewish  also." 

"If  thou  art  not  weary,"  said  Arius,  "I  would  desire 
much  to  hear  thee  declare  how  these  views,  which  are  en 
tirely  new  to  me,  agree  with  thy  reading  of  our  sacred 
books." 

"I  will  cheerfully  state  the  result  of  my  investiga 
tions,"  said  the  ancient,  "again  reminding  thee  that  I  read 
them  only  as  I  have  done  the  sacred  books  of  every  other 
people  known  to  me,  and  not  as  one  having  any  especial 
authority  to  declare  the  meaning  thereof. " 

"I  know  perfectly  well  as  to  that,"  said  the  boy,  "but 
desire  to  know  what  thou  hast  found  therein  in  reference 
to  this  opinion  of  thine." 

"  I  have  found  first,  as  I  have  already  suggested,  that 
Moses,  who  was  a  monotheist,  and  a  bitter  enemy  of  all 


WHO   IS  HAPI?  85 

polytheistic  ideas,  constantly  uses  the  plural  number  of  a 
Hebrew  noun  to  name  the  one  God  in  whom  he  believed. 
According  to  the  prophetic  portions  of  the  Jewish  scrip 
tures,  I  find  that  the  Son  of  God  was  to  be  born  of  a  vir 
gin,  and  the  trilogy  was  to  be  manifested  to  man  by  the 
incarnation  of  this  son.  Now,  in  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Christians,  the  four  called  Gospels,  Christ  is  always  called 
the  Son  of  God,  and  Jesus  is  called  Christ.  Uniformly 
that  which  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  God  that  was  at 
tributed  to  the  earthly  manifestation  of  the  divine  nature 
by  all  original  faiths  is  the  Christ ;  that  which  in  the  Chris 
tian  system  occupies  the  same  relation  to  the  divine  nature 
which  was  borne  by  the  feminine  side  of  the  dual  God  of 
all  the  original  faiths  is  called  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  ex 
pression  (Holy  Ghost)  occurs  two  hundred  and  twelve  times 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  every  instance  the  words 
are  in  the  Greek  neuter  gender,  which  expresses  nothing 
as  to  sex.  The  common  declaration  concerning  Christ 
is  that  he  was  '  begotten '  of  God  :  a  man  is  begotten  of 
his  father  ;  he  was  '  conceived '  of  the  Holy  Ghost  :  a  man 
is  conceived  of  his  mother.  My  interpretation,  therefore, 
must  be  that  these  scriptures  teach  us  that  the  one  God 
is  a  divine  dualism,  a  double  spiritual  Being,  the  Father- 
Ghost,  and  that  the  Christian  trilogy  is  completed  by  the 
generation  of  a  son  of  this  Father-Ghost  which  is  one 
double  God  ;  and  that  as  far  as  sex-hood  can  be  predicated 
of  a  spiritual  nature,  Christ,  the  Son,  is  a  spirit  begotten 
md  conceived  of  God  his  Father-Mother,  by  whom  the 
worlds  were  made,  and  who  was  afterward  manifested  in 
;he  flesh  by  assuming  human  nature.  This  is  what  thy 


86  ARIU8  THE  LIBYAN. 

scriptures  teach  me  :  I  know  not  whether  it  be  true  ; 
but  it  is  a  glorious  statement  of  that  which  was  the 
original  faith  of  all  primitive  peoples  before  mankind 
lapsed  into  idolatry ;  for  every  high-priest  in  Egypt  as 
suredly  knoweth  that  polytheism  was  not  the  first  faith 
of  men." 

"  But,"  said  Arius,  "  is  not  the  Holy  Ghost  called  'he ' 
in  the  paragraph  from  John  which  readeth — '  And  I  will 
pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Comforter, 
that  HE  may  abide  with  you  forever  ;  the  Spirit  of  truth  ; 
.whom  the  world  can  not  receive,  because  it  seeth  HIM  not, 
neither  knoweth  HIM  :  but  ye  know  HIM,  for  HE  dwelleth 
with  you  and  shall  be  in  you '  ;  and  in  that  passage  which 
readeth  as  follows  :  '  But  the  Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  HE  shall  teach  you 
all  things ' :  and  do  not  these  readings  conflict  with  your 
idea  that  the  name  of  the  third  person  in  the  Christian 
triad  expresses  nothing  as  to  sex  ?  " 

"  I  think  not  so,"  answered  the  ancient,  "because  it  is 
evident  that  in  these  places  the  only  thing  that  can  be 
meant  by  the  '  Holy  Ghost '  and  the  '  Spirit  of  truth '  is 
the  Paraclete,  the  Comforter  ;  and  while  the  Greek  word 
for  comforter  is  a  noun  of  the  masculine  gender,  the  words 
'  Holy  Ghost '  and  '  Spirit  of  truth '  still  retain  their  neu 
ter  form,  although  put  in  apposition  with  it ;  and  the  pro 
nouns  '  he '  and  '  him '  take  their  masculine  form  from 
the  word  comforter,  and  not  from  the  words  Holy  Ghost 
and  Spirit,  which  are  always  neuter,  and  express  nothing 
as  to  sex.  Besides  this,  I  do  not  find  anywhere  in  the 
scriptures  any  characteristics  which  are  essentially  mascu- 


WHO   IS   HAPI?  87 

line  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  I  do  find  many  which 
are  essentially  feminine. " 

"  Wilt  thou  state  any  other  argument,  if  there  be  any, 
that  maintaineth  this  grand  idea  of  a  dual  God  that  be- 
cometh  a  triad  by  the  generation  of  a  son  ?  " 

"There  is  another,"  said  the  ancient,  "which  is  con 
clusive  to  my  mind  that  the  doctrine  of  thy  scriptures  is 
as  I  have  stated  it.  In  Genesis  it  is  written  that  God  said, 
'  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image ' ;  and,  also,  it  is 
written,  'Male  and  female  created  he  them.'  It  seemeth 
to  me  that  this  *  image '  and  '  likeness '  hath  a  deeper  sig 
nification  than  the  mere  similitude  of  man's  character  to 
that  of  God  can  convey.  God  is  a  spirit,  according  to  these 
scriptures,  and  no  resemblance  can  be  imagined  between 
human  beings  and  him  in  regard  to  physical  constitution. 
So  far  as  the  characters  constituted  the  '  image  and  like- 
nes,'  the  books  show  that  it  would  include  only  the  first 
man  on  one  side,  and  God  the  Father  on  the  other.  But 
the  words  are  generic  :  '  us '  and  '  our '  the  triad,  on  one 
side,  and  'man '(that  is  'male  and  female,'  the  human 
race)  on  the  other,  and  I  suppose  the  '  image  and  likeness ' 
spoken  of  is  one  found  in  the  essential  nature  of  man,  in 
his  constitution  and  relations.  For  as  in  heaven,  so  in 
earth  ;  in  both,  the  trilogy  includes  Father,  Mother,  Son  : 
trinity  is  family  ;  and  the  essential  point  of  the  image  and 
likeness  between  the  human  and  the  divine  subsists  in  the 
fact  that  human  nature  necessarily  exists  as  a  triad — fa 
ther,  mother,  son  ;  just  as  the  divine  nature  must  do. 
This  seemeth  to  me  to  be  the  only  ground  from  which  it  is 
possible  to  predicate  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  without  in- 


88  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

volving  the  whole  Christian  system  in  the  mazes  of  poly- 
theism ;  for  if  he  be  divine  otherwise  than  in  this  fact  of 
generation,  there  must  be  more  than  one  God.  In  strict 
accordance  with  this  view,  I  have  observed  that  in  those 
nations  which  are  ignorant  of  this  feminine  aspect  of  the 
dual  god,  wives  are  degraded — are  mere  chattels,  mere 
slaves;  in  others,  that  (like  Egypt)  recognize  the  divine 
feminine  nature,  but  hold  that  she  is  inferior  to  the  mas 
culine  element  of  this  dualism,  wives  are  tolerated,  are 
not  shut  up  in  seclusion,  are  not  mere  slaves  and  chat 
tels  ;  while  among  the  Christians  alone  who  hold  the 
absolute  equality  of  Father  and  Spirit,  womanhood  is 
glorified  and  made  honorable ;  and  Jesus  himself  ele 
vated  marriage  almost,  if  not  altogether,  into  a  religious 
sacrament." 

"  The  views  you  present  seem  very  like  the  truth,"  said 
the  boy,  musingly,  "  and  they  are  certainly  grand  enough 
to  be  true.  But  they  are  entirely  new  to  me,  and  I  shall 
not  fail  to  give  them  such  study  and  meditation  as  my 
sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  involved  may  de 
mand.  I  have  never  heard  any  discussion  upon  the  nature 
of  the  relation  of  the  three  persons  of  our  Christian  tril 
ogy." 

"I  think,"  said  the  ancient,  "thou  wilt  find  that  it  is 
a  mere  mistake  to  suppose  that  there  are  three,  for  the  sa 
cred  books  teach  me  that  there  are  only  two,  the  Father- 
Ghost,  or  double  God,  but  one  only  ;  and  the  Son  of  this 
one  God.  The  perfectest  flowers  in  nature  are  hermaphro 
dites." 

"  But  wilt  thou  inform  me  whether  any  perfect,  self- 


WHO  IS  HAPI?  89 

producing  creature,  possessed  of  animal  life,  hath  ever  been 
discovered  ?  " 

"  Never,"  answered  the  ancient.  "  The  partial  realiza 
tion  of  such  a  condition,  the  rare  approximations  thereto, 
which  have  been  curiously  noted  by  Egyptian  priests  for 
centuries  and  myriads  of  years,  have  been  universally  re 
garded  as  a  deformity,  and  not  as  a  perfection.  Yet  the 
priesthood  say  that  the  fact  was  perfectly  realized,  ac 
cording  to  Moses,  in  the  case  of  the  first  man ;  for  the 
first  woman  was  not  created  as  the  man  was,  but  proceeded 
out  of  him  ;  and  the  account  given  by  Moses  afterward 
means  just  that.  I  could  say  many  things  upon  this  mat 
ter  indeed,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  oath  of  secrecy,  taken 
at  every  step  of  his  progress  in  the  sacerdotal  life  by  every 
Egyptian  priest,  was  vast  and  solemn  ;  intended  to  cover 
his  whole  future  life,  and  secure  his  silence  under  every 
possible  mutation  of  his  own  fortune.  The  sphinxes,  with 
wide-open  eyes  and  sealed  lips,  and  faces  that  are  inscru 
table  and  calm,  revealing  nothing  that  might  show  a  trace 
of  any  passion,  emotion,  thought,  or  purpose,  and  yet  full 
of  intelligence  and  power,  are  the  perfect  symbol  of  the 
Egyptian  priesthood  ;  and  I  know  not  just  how  far  these 
)bligations  are  binding  upon  me." 

"I  will  not  question  thee,"  said  Arius,  "but  will  en- 
leavor  to  profit  by  whatever  thou  mayst  be  at  liberty  to 
leclare." 

"  Thou  mayst  some  day  find  use  for  the  fact  that  was 
rell  known  to  the  priesthood,  who  were  the  repository  of 
11  knowledge  in  the  land  of  Kem,  that  in  the  embryonic 
r  fcetal  life,  both  in  animals  and  in  man,  there  is  abso- 


90  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

lutely  no  distinction  of  sex.  Up  to  a  short  period  prior  to 
its  birth,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  whether  the  off 
spring  will  be  male  or  female — from  which  fact  it  seems 
to  follow  that  sex  is  not  a  primary  or  essential  function  of 
animal  existence,  but  dependent  upon  conditions  during 
gestation  which  centuries  of  investigation  have  failed  to 
disclose.  Dost  thou  remember  how  bitterly  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Israelites,  from  Moses  down,  denounce  Baal, 
and  Ashtaroth,  and  the  star-god  Remphan,  and  all  the  se 
cret  rites  of  the  national  religions  of  all  other  people  ex 
cept  their  own,  the  Egyptians  included  ?  Hast  thou  ob 
served  that  many  of  the  ceremonies  which  other  nations 
practiced  as  part  of  religion  are  denounced  by  Moses  as 
crimes  punishable  with  death  ?  Hast  thou  observed  that 
throughout  the  Jewish  scriptures,  and  especially  through 
out  the  Pentateuch,  there  are  bitter  and  vindictive  laws 
and  customs  devised  for  the  express  purpose  of  segregating 
the  Israelites  from  all  other  peoples,  for  building  up,  as  it 
were,  a  wall  of  partition  between  them  and  all  other  na 
tions — and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  would 
have  been  natural  and  right  for  Moses  and  his  people,  if 
they  believed  themselves  to  be  in  possession  of  the  truth, 
to  seek  to  impart  that  truth  to  others,  and  so  procure  the 
universal  acceptance  thereof  ?  Hast  thou  marked  the  fact 
that  the  missionary  spirit,  which  was  the  glory  of  every 
other  religion,  so  as  to  create  continual  wars  undertaken 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  forcing  other  peoples  to  adopt  the 
religion  of  the  conqueror,  was  constantly  repressed  by  the 
Jewish  laws  and  branded  as  a  crime  ?  And  hast  thou 
ever  reflected  upon  the  real  signification  of  these  facts  ?  " 


WHO  IS   HAPI?  91 

"  Yea,"  answered  Arius,  "  and  I  have  been  taught  that 
God,  by  Moses,  so  commanded  the  Jews  in  order  to  pre 
serve  the  peculiar  people  from  being  seduced  into  follow 
ing  after  strange  gods,  and  adopting  the  idolatries  which 
were  everywhere  believed  in.  For  the  idolatries  thou  hast 
named,  and  every  false  religion  which  had  for  its  symbol 
a  moon,  a  cow,  a  cock,  or  any  symbol  intended  to  indicate 
the  fecundity  of  Nature,  was  only  the  worship  of  that  very 
mystery  of  sex  of  which  thou  hast  spoken  such  strange 
things,  the  deification  of  lasciviousness,  the  apotheosis  of 
sensualism. " 

"  They  finally  became  so,  indeed,"  said  Am-nem-hat, 
sadly,  "  when  the  original  truth  became  thoroughly  cor 
rupted  ;  but  it  was  not  so  in  the  beginning.     For  if  thou 
;vilt  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  original  faith  of  every 
primitive  nation  held  the  true  God  to  be  a  dualism  that 
vas  to  become  a  triad  by  the  generation  of  a  Son  ;  if  thou 
nit  remember  that  this  Son  was  also  held  to  be  Hapi,  '  the 
ddden,'  'the  concealed,'  'the  unrevealed,'  even  as  unto 
his  day  the  high-priest  of  every  temple  in  Egypt  will  de- 
lare  unto  thee  ;  and,  considering  these  things,  thou  wilt 
ot  surely  say  that  the  grand   roll  of  Egyptian  priests, 
(  retching  back  for  more  than  thirty  centuries  of  recorded 
]  isfcory  from  this  age  of  ours,  were  all  mere  sensualists. 
<  n  the  contrary,  thou  wilt  see  in  these  singular  rites  and 
c  remonies,  even  in  their  present  degraded  form,  the  signs 
a  id  symbols  of  a  deathless  longing  in  the  hearts  of  that 
£  and,  pure,  holy  race  of  sacred  priests,  and  of  a  search 
I  osecuted  over  land  and  sea,  through  heaven,  and  earth, 
a  d  hell,  during  all  the  fruitless  and  slow-gliding  centu- 


92  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ries,  by  every  art,  science,  and  resource  known  to  men — a 
longing  and  a  search  after  Hapi,  'the  hidden  one,'  'the 
concealed  Son,'  'the  unrevealed  Saviour,'  for  whom  the 
whole  creation  groaneth — a  sublime  spectacle,  sad  and  grand 
enough  to  move  a  god  to  pity  !  For  while  the  crowd  see 
only  a  splendid  pageant  in  that  annual  festival  in  which 
with  torches  and  with  magnificent  display,  the  priests  and 
the  whole  population  at  Memphis  wander  over  the  city, 
the  river,  and  the  lake,  seeking  in  earth,  and  fire,  and 
water,  for  the  dismembered  body  of  the  dual  god,  thou 
wilt  find  among  them  aged,  pure,  sad,  learned  men,  who 
see  in  the  same  grand  spectacle  the  perpetual  memorial  of 
their  world-old  search  for  Hapi,  '  the  concealed ' ;  and,  if 
thou  couldst  gaze  into  their  shut,  silent,  sorrowful  hearts, 
thou  wouldst  see  all  the  faculties  of  soul  and  spirit  exhal 
ing  in  a  yearning  prayer  that  he  might  come  !  and  at  the 
gate  of  every  temple  thou  wouldst  find  the  priestly  sym 
bol,  the  Sphinx,  the  sleepless  watcher,  cut  out  of  imperish 
able  stone,  'gazing  right  on  with  calm,  eternal  eyes,'  till 
Hapi  come  ! — for  such  is  the  true  signification  of  Hesiri- 
Hes,  whom  the  Greeks  call  Osiris-Isis  !  And  even  in  the 
later  and  more  degraded  worship  of  the  bull-god  Apis, 
while  the  common  crowd  see  only  the  apotheosis  of  sensu 
alism,  as  thou  hast  called  it,  in  the  fact  that,  when  a  new 
Apis  is  discovered,  devout  women  at  Memphis,  during 
forty  days,  expose  themselves  stripped  naked  to  the  gaze 
of  the  sacred  brute,  the  sad-faced  priests  realize  that  the 
endless  and  unavailing  search  to  discover  Hapi,  '  the  con* 
cealed,'had  sometimes  been  prosecuted  by  unlawful  means, 
against  which  Moses,  in  the  Jewish  scriptures,  denounced 


WHO  IS  HAPI?  93 

the  penalty  of  death.  And  the  period  of  forty  days  was 
purposely  chosen  in  order  to  cover  by  a  few  days,  in  both 
directions,  a  lunation  of  the  moon  ;  for  the  worship  of  the 
moon-god  universally  connected  the  lunations  of  that 
planet  with  the  sexhood  of  women.  But  thou  wouldst 
greatly  err  if  thou  shouldst  believe  that  in  its  original, 
undegraded  form,  this  worship  was  sensualism  ;  for  it  be 
gan  with  some  new  effort  to  wring  out  of  the  mystery  of 
sex  the  secret  of  Hapi,  *  the  concealed ' ;  and  was  glorified 
by  the  fact  that  it  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  weary,  world- 
old  search  after  him  !  Oh,  will  he  ever  come  ?  " 

Then  the  boy  sprang  to  his  feet,  to  the  very  tips  of 
his  toes,  his  right  hand  vibrating,  his  head  erected  and 
bent  forward,  his  dark  eyes  gleaming  with  mesmeric  light, 
his  whole  form  and  face  glowing  with  passionate  and 
quivering  emotion,  and  he  cried  aloud  :  "  Thou  art  pious 
and  aged  and  learned  !  Thou  teachest  me  much  !  But  I 
will  also  teach  thee  something  !  As  surely  as  thou  livest, 
Hapi,  the  Hidden,  whom  thou  callest  the  desire  of  all 
nations,  hath  already  come  in  the  flesh,  and  his  name  is 
Jesus  Christ." 

"Perhaps  so,  perhaps  so,"  said  the  ancient,  mourn 
fully.  ''But  the  priests  of  Kem,  during  the  past  three 
thousand  years,  often  imagined  that  they  had  found  him, 
and  as  often  met  with  bitter  disappointment.  The  Sphinx 
still  watches  with  unwinking  gaze  for  the  solution  of  the 
mighty  problem,  and  the  old  are  difficult  to  convince." 

But  at  that  moment  Theckla  burst  in  upon  them, 
flushed  and  weary  with  her  romping  with  the  goats,  cry 
ing  out,  "0  sacred  Hapi,  I  am  so  hungry  and  so  tired  I" 
7 


94  ARIU8  THE  LIBYAN. 

Then  the  old  man  spread  out  a  linen  cloth  upon  the  table, 
and,  at  his  desire,  Arius  and  Theckla  placed  thereon  the 
table-ware  and  the  dainties  taken  from  the  basket  which 
the  boy  had  brought,  while  he  took  from  a  little  spring 
nigh  his  hermitage  a  jar  of  cool,  refreshing  goat's  milk : 
and  they  three  did  feast  right  joyously. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

THE   DEMOCRACY   OF   FAITH. 

IT  was  indeed  a  singular  thing  to  hear,  the  usual  con 
versation  of  those  young  people  about  religious  questions 
upon  which  the  greatest  minds  of  subsequent  ages  have 
spent  their  force  without  exhausting  them  ;  but  it  should 
be  remembered  that  everything  like  exact  science  was 
then  in  its  infancy  :  all  that  was  actually  known  of  medi 
cine,  chemistry,  geology,  geometry,  geography,  botany, 
and  even  of  mathematics,  could  be  very  quickly  learned ; 
and  around  this  narrow  limit  of  ascertained  truth  spread 
a  boundless  wilderness  of  vagrant  speculation,  in  which 
the  seeker  after  learning  might  wander  a  whole  lifetime 
without  ever  being  able  to  add  one  single  valuable  fact 
to  the  stock  of  knowledge ;  so  that  religion,  whether 
Christianity  or  paganism,  was  universally  regarded  as  the 
one  thing  that  might  most  profitably  be  learned  and 
known  ;  and  education,  even  from  infancy,  consisted  in 
acquiring  the  knowledge  of  it :  and  this  education  was 
among  the  heathen  chiefly  objective,  handling  the  visible, 
tangible  symbols  of  a  superstition  which  possessed  only 
the  most  meager  elements  of  subjective  truth  and  power, 
except,  perhaps,  for  the  higher  priests  who  had  been 


96  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

initiated  into  mysteries  unknown  to  the  common  people ; 
while  among  the  Christians  the  process  was  almost  re 
versed.  Christianity  had  no  objective  life,  except  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  subjective  power  which 
it  possessed  upon  both  intellect  and  consciousness  had  no 
assignable  limits,  inasmuch  as  it  seemed  to  make  the  mar 
tyrs  almost  insensible  to  physical  pain,  and  yet  could  pro 
duce  a  moral  sensitiveness  so  acute  that  to  be  conscious 
of  willful  deception  might  work  the  death  of  the  body, 
as  in  the  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  when  they  lied 
to  Peter  about  the  consecration  of  their  property  to  holy 
uses.  This  education  among  the  Egyptians,  especially 
among  females  of  the  higher  classes,  was  chiefly  oral,  but 
among  the  Christians  the  young  were  taught  both  orally 
and  by  the  written  text. 

One  of  the  strangest  and  yet  most  logical  results  of 
the  Christian  teachings  and  practice  (and  one  which  has 
been,  for  very  sufficient  reasons,  ignored  by  the  theolo 
gians)  was  to  develop  a  radical  and  uncompromising  spirit 
of  democracy  throughout  the  Christian  communities  or 
churches.  The  early  Christians  uniformly  held  that  they, 
as  Christians,  belonged  to  a  kingdom  which  was  in,  but 
not  of,  the  world — a  kingdom  for  which  no  earthly  po 
tentate  had  right  or  power  to  legislate ;  and  this  living 
faith  loosened  the  bond  of  allegiance  and  dissolved  the 
sense  of  obligation  as  to  all  human  authority,  and  was 
the  negation  of  the  lawfulness  of  temporal  government 
over  the  subjects  of  the  kingdom  for  which  they  recog 
nized  no  king  but  Christ.  While,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
they  were  willing  to  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF  FAITH.  97 

are  Caesar's,  by  paying  taxes  to  that  government  under 
which  they  lived,  and  by  even  yielding  ready  obedience 
to  all  laws  and  customs  which  did  not  come  in  conflict 
with  the  higher  law  of  the  kingdom,  the  rights  of  con 
science,  they  universally  regarded  these  laws  as  extrane 
ous  to  their  own  organization,  foreign  statutes,  imposed 
upon  them  from  without ;  and,  being  solicitous  to  render 
unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's,  they  steadily  ab 
stained  from  any  participation  in  the  affairs  of  govern 
ment,  and  quietly  assumed  the  right  to  judge  for  them 
selves  whether  any  law,  regulation,  or  custom,  prescribed 
by  the  sovereign  power,  or  other  human  authority,  was  or 
was  not  such  as  they  might  conscientiously  obey.  And, 
while  they  would  no  more  have  thought  of  holding  office 
under  pagan  rulers  or  of  participating  in  their  legislation 
and  government  than  they  would  have  thought  of  accept 
ing  the  priesthood  of  a  heathen  temple  and  participating 
in  its  idolatrous  worship,  they  obeyed  all  laws  alike,  ex 
cept  such  as  conflicted  with  conscience,  and  these  they 
refused  to  obey  in  the  very  face  of  persecutions,  torture, 
and  death.  But  this  fearless  assertion  of  the  rights  of 
conscience  necessarily  involved  the  right  to  sit  in  judg 
ment  upon  all  human  laws  and  the  powers  that  ordained 
them,  and  to  determine  for  themselves  whether  the  law 
was  lawful.  That  helpless  spirit  of  blind  obedience  to 
the  decrees  of  despotic  governments  which  characterized 
the  pagan  peoples  was,  therefore,  impossible  to  the  Chris 
tians.  In  the  very  teeth  of  universally  established  law 
and  custom,  they  steadily  refused  to  bear  arms,  to  own 
slaves,  to  seek  any  legal  redress  in  civil  courts,  to  follow 


98  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

the  law  of  their  domicile  in  regard  to  the  ownership  of 
property  or  the  succession  to  estates  of  the  deceased,  just 
as  they  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  or  to  call  any 
man  master.  Under  the  same  lofty  conception  of  the 
rights  of  conscience,  in  lands  where  women  were  bought 
and  sold  like  cattle,  they  refused  to  practice  polygamy ; 
and  in  lands  where  female  chastity  was  unknown  and 
plural  wives  and  concubines  were  esteemed  to  be  the  in 
signia  of  honor  and  influence,  they  clave  fast  to  that 
monogamic  marriage  which  Jesus  had  elevated  into  a  holy 
sacrament ;  and  while  throughout  the  world  women  were 
regarded  as  slaves,  as  domestic  chattels,  or,  at  the  very 
best,  as  an  inferior  race  and  a  necessary  evil,  so  that  the 
birth  of  a  female  child  was  looked  upon  as  a  household 
calamity,  the  Christian  faith  that  the  Holy  Ghost  con 
ceived  Christ  before  he  was  born  of  a  virgin  and  mani 
fested  in  the  flesh,  glorified  and  exalted  the  dignity  of 
womanhood  and  maternity,  and  created  the  idea  of  per 
sonal  responsibility,  rights,  and  duties  for  both  sexes 
alike.  The  logical  tendency  of  Christianity  was,  there 
fore,  to  originate  the  idea  of  personal  liberty  for  all  men, 
unknown  to  the  world  before ;  to  repudiate  the  heathen 
doctrine  of  the  divine  character  and  right  of  kings  ;  to  sit 
in  judgment  upon  their  laws,  and  to  intelligently  obey,  or 
refuse  to  obey,  them ;  in  a  word,  to  cultivate  and  exer 
cise,  as  a  matter  of  religious  faith,  that  spirit  of  personal 
independence,  both  of  action  and  of  thought,  which  we 
in  later  times  denominate  democracy,  the  concrete  form 
of  which  was  the  election  of  deacons,  presbyters,  and 
bishops  by  the  people  unto  whom  they  ministered. 


THE  DEMOCRACY   OF  FAITH.  99 

But  this  habit  of  independent  thought  did  not  tend  as 
in  later  times  in  the  direction  of  ecclesiastical  schisms ; 
because,  if  any  one  embraced  a  doctrinal  error,  either  it 
was  maintained  by  him  as  an  individual  opinion ;  or  if  a 
mistaken  zeal  led  him  to  proclaim  it  publicly,  and  seek 
thereby  to  bind  the  consciences  of  other  Christians,  the 
matter  soon  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  churches,  and, 
when  the  Church  assembled  to  consider  the  alleged  error, 
the  Holy  Paraclete  directed  the  counsels  of  the  assembled 
bishops  and  presbyters,  so  that  their  deliverances  were 
infallibly  correct,  and  were  universally  accepted  as  final. 
So  that,  during  the  first  three  centuries,  no  heresy  could 
survive  the  condemnation  of  a  Christian  council,  and  no 
learning,  zeal,  and  genius  could  give  to  heresy  such  vitality 
and  power  as  to  seriously  threaten  the  peace  of  the  Church. 
Even  Peter  could  not  force  the  observance  of  the  rite  of 
circumcision  upon  the  free  Christian  communities ;  and 
the  heresies  of  Menander,  Cerinthus,  Nicolaus,  Valen- 
tinius,  Marcion,  Tatianus,  Blastus,  Montanus,  Artimon, 
and  others,  perished  almost  as  soon  as  they  had  been 
condemned. 

It  was  perfectly  natural,  therefore,  that  while  both 
Arius  and  Theckla  were  almost  children  in  many  respects, 
they  should  both  be  far  advanced  in  religious  learning, 
each  of  them  in  harmony  with  one  of  the  separate  systems 
under  which  they  had  been  reared  ;  and  that  they  should 
be,  in  many  attitudes  of  thought  and  feeling,  a  pleasing 
enigma  to  each  other.  The  girl,  although  brimful  of 
bright  and  pleasing  fancies,  had  all  her  life  been  accus 
tomed  to  accept  as  truth  whatever  was  taught  to  her  as 


100  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

such,  and  the  very  basis  of  her  training  had  been  implicit 
and  unquestioning  obedience  to  authority  without  reason, 
so  that  she  had  never,  perhaps,  attempted  to  exercise  an 
independent  thought,  judgment,  or  inquiry  about  any 
question  of  religious,  political,  or  social  life,  her  existence 
having  been  passed  in  strict  and  unconscious  conformity 
to  rigid  Egyptian  customs,  into  the  molds  and  forms  of 
which  she  had  been  fashioned  from  her  infancy.  The 
illness  of  her  mother,  which  left  her  to  the  freedom  of 
thought,  expression,  and  action,  characteristic  of  every 
Christian  household,  was  a  new  and  intoxicating  experience 
to  the  girl ;  and,  whatever  else  it  might  be  possible  for  her 
to  become,  it  was  manifestly  impossible  that  she  could  ever 
again  resiliate  into  the  moral  and  social  mummyism  of 
ordinary  Egyptian  female  life.  The  bondage  of  Egypt 
was  broken. 

But  the  boy,  fixed  and  immovable  in  his  faith  in  the 
few  salient  and  all-important  doctrines  covered  by  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  as  that  creed  was  taught  during  the  first 
three  centuries,  as  to  everything  else,  had  been  freed  by 
his  training  from  the  shackles  of  authority,  and  so  un 
consciously  enjoyed  and  exercised  "the  liberty  of  the 
gospel"  in  which  he  had  been  reared  by  questioning,  in 
vestigating,  trying  every  phenomenon — social,  religious, 
and  political — that  came  within  the  range  of  his  observa 
tion  and  experience. 

Am-nem-hat  imagined  that  in  these  two  youthful  but 
well-instructed  young  people  he  beheld  the  living  incarna 
tion  of  the  opposing  civilizations  under  which  they  had 
been  reared  ;  and  it  was  a  pathetic  and  beautiful  thing 


THE  DEMOCRACY  OF  FAITH.  101 

to  see  with  what  eager  intentness  he  noted  almost  every 
inflection  of  their  voices,  every  expression  of  their  coun 
tenances,  almost  every  peculiar  turn  and  change  of  their 
thoughts,  while  he  encouraged  them  to  talk,  hardly  caring 
what  might  be  the  subject  of  their  conversation. 

At  the  beginning  of  their  little  feast  the  ancient  said  : 
"  Arius,  if  ye  Christians  have  any  custom  of  thank-offering, 
prayer,  or  libations,  before  ye  partake  of  food,  I  would  de 
sire  to  have  thee  perform  or  repeat  it  now." 

Then  answered  Arius  :  "  We  make  no  libation  or  offer 
ing,  nor  are  we  restricted  to  any  set  formula  for  returning 
thanks  to  God  ;  but  generally  we  repeat  the  Harep  T^MJV." 

"  Wilt  thou  do  so  now  ?  " 

Then  the  boy  said,  "Yea,  gladly";  and,  while  they 
watched  him  narrowly,  he  solemnly  said  :  "  Our  Father, 
which  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy  name  :  thy  king 
dom  come  :  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven.  Give 
us  daily  our  daily  bread ;  and  forgive  us  our  debts  as  we 
forgive  debtors  :  and  let  us  not  be  led  into  trial,  but  de 
liver  us  from  trouble  :  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the 
power,  and  the  truth,  forever." 

Then  said  Am-nem-hat,  "  Theckla,  what  form  of  wor 
ship  hast  thou  been  taught  to  observe  before  partaking  of 
thy  daily  food?" 

And  the  girl  said  :  "  On  solemn  occasions,  our  fathers 
make  libations ;  but  it  is  not  according  to  Egyptian  cus 
toms,  or  religion,  for  a  female  to  meddle  with  any  sacred 
rite,  beyond  her  own  private  devotions,  as  thou,  0  priest, 
must  assuredly  know." 

"  Dost  thou  know  the  reason,  Theckla,  that  woman  is 


102  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

thus  excluded,  not  only  from  participation  in  the  sacred 
rites,  but  from  every  place  that  is  inconsistent  with  the 
idea  that  she  must  of  necessity  be  either  a  slave  or  a 
domestic  pet,  having  right  to  existence  only  as  the  ap 
panage  of  a  man  upon  whom  she  is  dependent  as  slave, 
wife,  or  daughter  ?  " 

"Nay,"  she  answered;  "but  I  have  been  so  taught, 
and,  therefore,  it  must  be  right  and  proper." 

"  I  will  tell  thee,  Theckla,  for  it  is  verily  a  thing  which 
every  female  ought  to  know.  The  reason  of  it  is  that  the 
original  idea  of  God  was  that  of  a  dual  being,  equally 
divine  and  glorious  in  both  aspects  of  his  double  nature. 
But  nearly  all  nations,  as  they  sank  deeper  and  deeper 
into  idolatry,  degraded  the  feminine  conception  of  this 
dualism,  and  some  of  them  utterly  lost  it.  In  Egypt 
they  have  held  Hes  to  be  consort  of  Hesiri,  and,  although 
inferior  to  him,  yet  entitled  to  great  honor.  Hence  the 
Egyptian  women  have  never  been  shut  up,  kept  in  seclu 
sion  and  ignorance,  and  esteemed  only  as  slaves  or  as 
chattels,  as  is  universally  the  case  among  nations  that  have 
entirely  fallen  away  from  the  divine  truth.  But  I  tell  thee, 
Theckla,  that  the  religion  of  the  Christians  alone  maintains 
the  absolute  equality  of  the  Godhead,  by  maintaining  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Mother  of  Nature,  to  be  consubstantial 
with  the  Father,  and  hence  it  alone  elevates  woman  to 
her  true  position,  and  endows  her  with  responsibility, 
respect  and  honor,  rights  and  duties ;  so  that,  although 
all  men  on  earth  should  reject  and  curse  the  Christ,  every 
woman,  who  is  true  to  herself  and  to  her  sex,  should  cleave 
unto  him  ia  spite  of  pain  and  even  death  itself.  Do  thou 


THE  DEMOCEAOY   OF  FAITH.  103 

remember  these  things,  Theckla  ;  and,  when  thou  shalt  see 
with  what  respect,  honor,  and  love  the  Christian  husband 
treateth  his  wife  and  daughters,  remember  thou  that  the 
vast  difference  between  them  and  other  men,  in  that  re 
gard,  ariseth  not  out  of  any  difference  in  the  nature  or 
disposition  of  the  individuals,  but  out  of  the  difference 
in  their  religion  only ;  for  that  faith  regardeth  women  as 
persons,  not  as  things.  Forget  not  these  truths,  Theckla ! 
for,  whether  it  be  true  or  false,  Christianity  alone  hath  ever 
done  justice  to  womanhood,  wifehood,  maternity  ;  and  the 
woman  who  does  not  love  and  follow  Jesus  betrayeth  her 
self  and  her  sex." 

"Surely  thou,  also,  art  a  Christian!"  said  the  young 
girl. 

"Nay,"  answered  Am-nem-hat ;  "I  say  not  that  to 
thee  !  For  I  can  not  understand  what  it  is  to  be  a  Chris 
tian.  But,  having  carefully  studied  this  religion  as  I  have 
done  all  others  known  among  mankind,  I  do  solemnly 
assure  thee  that  it  is  the  only  one  on  earth  that  is  fair 
and  just  to  chaste  and  intelligent  women.  For  it  teacheth 
that  the  equal,  consubstantial  Holy  Spirit  conceived  a  Sav 
iour  that  was  virgin-born  ;  and  it  so  serveth  to  redeem  all 
womanhood  from  centuries  of  contempt  and  degradation  ; 
for  no  man  who  hath  an  intelligent  faith  in  Christianity 
can  ever  regard  woman  as  the  mere  instrument  of  his 
pleasure,  or  as  the  mere  slave  of  his  will,  but  as  a  friend, 
helpmate,  and  companion,  worthy  of  love,  honor,  and 
respect ;  so  that,  whether  it  be  true  or  false,  every  woman 
should  cleave  thereto,  because  it  is  for  her,  at  least,  tem 
poral  salvation.  For  Christianity  differeth  as  radically 


104  ARIUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

from  all  other  religions  in  regard  to  the  esteem  in  which 
it  holdeth  women  as  it  does  in  regard  to  slavery  and 
to  the  poor.  And  while  the  rich  and  the  great  may  hate 
this  system  because  it  would  deprive  them  of  the  social 
and  political  precedence  which  every  other  religion  main- 
taineth  for  them,  the  slaves,  the  poor,  and  the  women 
should  never  forget  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  truest  friend 
they  ever  had  on  earth. " 

Then  said  Arius,  "Father  Am-nem-hat,  why  art  not 
thou  a  Christian,  having  views  of  our  religion  that  are  so 
wise  and  just  ?  " 

And  the  old  man  answered  :  "  That  thing,  my  son,  I 
can  not  tell  thee,  nor  can  I  comprehend  it  for  myself.  I 
can  not  understand  what  is  the  precise  attitude  of  mine 
own  spirit  toward  Christianity.  Canst  thou  instruct  me  ?  " 

"Nay,  verily,"  said  Arius.  "In  my  heart  I  yearn  for 
the  power  to  say  something  that  might  open  thine  eyes 
unto  the  light ;  but  my  small  knowledge  and  experience 
serve  not  to  enable  me  to  understand  how  it  is  possible 
that  one  so  aged  and  so  wise,  so  well  instructed  in  our 
Lord's  own  teachings,  can  fail  to  be  a  Christian.  But 
my  father  was  an  idolater  in  his  youth,  and  he  is  learned 
in  our  religion.  If  thou  wilt  go  home  with  us,  thou  shalt 
be  received  with  honor  and  affection,  and  he,  perhaps,  can 
give  thee  aid.  Wilt  thou  not  go  ?  " 

"I  thank  thee  much,"  said  Am-nem-hat.  "But  the 
way  is  long,  and  the  mountain  steep,  for  one  so  old  as  I. 
And  besides,  it  seemeth  to  me  that,  if  human  knowledge 
and  patient  thought  could  extort  any  final  truth  out  of  the 
mute  lips  of  Nature,  even  I  could  have  made  her  speak  ! " 


THE  DEMOCRACY   OF  FAITH.  105 

"But,"  said  the  boy,  "the  tree  of  knowledge  is  not 
that  of  life.  Even  the  most  ignorant  and  depraved  find 
peace  in  believing,  and  I  have  met  with  none  so  wise  as 
thou.  If  thou  wilt  come  to  us,  I  will  bring  hither  on 
to-morrow  a  she-ass,  gentle  and  sure  of  foot,  which  my 
mother  is  accustomed  to  ride,  and  will  walk  beside  thee 
to  our  home,  if  only  thou  wilt  come. " 

"Yea,"  cried  Theckla,  "thou  must  surely  come  !  For 
I  will  tell  my  mother  that  I  have  met  the  high-priest  of 
Ombos,  and  she  will  long  much  to  see  thee." 

Then  Am-nem-hat,  as  if  overpowered  by  their  persua 
sions,  replied  :  "Ye  are  both  so  kind  to  an  old  and  lonely 
man  that  I  can  not  resist  your  entreaties,  and  will  even 
do  as  ye  desire ;  for  ye  know  not  what  pleasure  the  old 
may  derive  from  the  polite  and  hearty  attentions  of  the 
young. " 

Then  the  two  young  people  bade  the  old  man  a  kind 
farewell,  and,  with  the  light  heart  of  youth  and  health, 
took  their  way  homeward  down  the  mountain.  And 
when  they  had  come  to  the  edge  of  the  pasture-land 
they  met  with  some  of  the  cattle,  and  among  them  was 
the  young  bull-calf  whose  peculiar  markings  had  so  ex 
cited  the  wonder  and  superstition  of  Theckla ;  and  Arius 
cried  out  laughingly  :  "  Lo,  Theckla !  there  is  thy  god, 
and  thou  shalt  ride  home  upon  the  back  of  the  beast." 

And  he  cut  a  long  withe  and  fastened  it  upon  the 
horns  of  the  bull,  and  led  up  the  gentle  beast,  and, 
seizing  the  young  girl  in  his  arms,  he  lifted  her  astride 
of  the  fat,  round  calf,  and  led  him  along.  And,  when 
Arius  mocked  and  ridiculed  the  young  Apis,  the  girl 


106  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

joined  in  his  merriment,  and  he  was  glad  to  see  that  she 
was  fast  losing  all  superstitious  reverence  for  the  brute, 
and  for  all  the  other  pagan  deities ;  for  her  growing  con 
tempt  for  Apis  necessarily  struck  at  her  reverence  for  the 
whole  system,  of  which  a  bull  with  a  black  hide,  a  tri 
angular  white  spot  on  his  forehead,  a  spread-eagle  in  the 
hairs  of  his  back,  a  crescent  white  spot  upon  his  side, 
and  a  knob  like  a  scarabaeus  under  his  tongue,  was  so 
important  a  part. 

When  they  had  reached  that  part  of  the  pasture 
which  was  nearest  to  the  house,  Theckla  sprang  from 
the  animal's  back,  and,  with  some  lingering  doubt  of 
his  divinity  still  troubling  her  mind,  she  said  :  "  Arms, 
I  really  wonder  whether  the  Apis  hath  a  knob  under  his 
tongue  in  the  shape  of  a  scarabaeus  ?  Wilt  thou  not  look 
into  his  mouth  ? " 

"I  know  not  that,"  said  the  boy;  "but,  if  he  hath 
not  a  rather  odd-looking  spot  under  his  tongue,  he  is 
the  only  bull-calf  I  ever  saw  that  hath  it  not ;  and  I 
suppose  it  would  be  easy  to  irritate  and  inflame  this 
spot  until  it  would  look  like  a  natural  knob  about  as 
large  as  a  good,  lively  beetle." 

"I  had  never  thought  it  might  be  possible  for  the 
priests  to  so  deceive  any  one,"  said  Theckla. 

"  Perhaps  they  did  not  do  so,"  answered  the  boy ; 
"  but  they  may  have  been  deceived  by  the  cunning  of 
those  who  had  such  beasts  and  desired  to  sell  them." 

Theckla  sighed,  but  her  reverence  for  Apis  and  for 
all  of  his  mysteries  was  utterly  gone  forever. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FAITH  AND   PHILOSOPHY. 

DUEING  the  time  that  Arius  and  Theckla  had  been 
absent  at  the  hermitage  of  Am-nem-hat,  a  great  change 
had  occurred  in  the  condition  of  the  Egyptian  lady, 
Hatasa,  at  the  Baucalis  cottage.  Early  in  the  morning 
she  had  fallen  into  a  profound  slumber,  but  before  noon 
she  had  awakened  suddenly,  and  in  a  moment  afterward 
the  whole  house  was  filled  with  her  bitter  wailing.  All 
at  once  the  terrible  sense  of  loss  had  overwhelmed  her 
mind  with  impassioned  force,  and  in  heart-broken  tones 
she  repeated  the  name  of  her  husband  over  and  over 
again,  and  momently  called  aloud  for  "Theckla,  darling 
Theckla  !  Where  is  my  daughter,  my  only  child  ?  " 

Then  with  great  tenderness  Arete  told  her  that  Theck 
la  was  well  and  happy,  and  would  soon  return  with  her 
own  son,  with  whom  she  had  gone  to  visit  a  near  neigh 
bor.  The  poor  woman's  grief  seemed  hopeless  and  unen 
durable.  At  one  moment  she  would  yearningly  lament 
the  loss  of  her  husband,  and  at  the  next  reproach  the 
gods  of  Egypt  with  his  destruction,  and  then,  perhaps, 
pray  to  them  in  tones  of  hopeless  supplication.  "0  Ra 
and  Thoth!"  she  cried,  "ye  murderous,  heartless  gods,  that 


108  ARITJS  THE  LIBYAN. 

have  so  cruelly  bereft  me,  have  pity  upon  Amosis,  whom 
ye  have  snatched  away  to  the  under-world  !  0  merci 
less  and  fearful  Ma-t,  that  hast  never  had  compassion 
upon  any  mortal,  thou  terrible  Two  Truths  in  thy  dark 
halls  sitting,  unmoved  by  sorrow  or  pain,  in  the  gloom  of 
mournful  Amenti,  soften  once  thy  stony  heart,  that  thou 
mayst  feel  the  sharpness  of  our  earthly  woe,  so  that  thou 
judge  not  mine  Amosis  until  I  have  builded  his  sarcoph 
agus.  0  thou  Hesiri-Hes  !  that  cometh  nearer  to  our 
human  life  than  other  dreadful  deities,  restore  my  hus 
band's  body  to  the  land,  that  with  due  honors  and  un 
counted  cost  I  yet  may  have  his  mummy-rites  prepared 
to  smooth  his  pathway  through  the  under- world  ! "  Then, 
seeming  to  realize  the  uselessness  of  any  prayer  in  the 
absence  of  the  ceremonies  of  a  funeral,  she  moaned  in 
hopeless  grief :  "0  terrible  !  to  be  cut  off  in  youth,  with 
no  sarcophagus  builded,  and  no  mummy-cloth — cast  off 
alone  and  friendless,  into  the  darkness  of  Amenti !  0 
fearful  fate  !  to  be  called  up  for  judgment,  like  a  pauper, 
before  the  merciless,  unsparing  Ma-t!" 

And  so  she  would  cry,  as  loudly  as  her  feebleness  per 
mitted,  until  exhausted  nature  enforced  silence  upon  her 
wailing  lips. 

"  She  calleth  upon  the  ancient,  fearful  gods  of  Kem,'c 
said  old  Thopt,  in  a  half-terrified  whisper  to  Arete. 

"  She  is  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world," 
whispered  Arete.  "May  the  compassionate  Lord  pity  her 
and  bring  unto  her  the  consolations  of  his  grace  ! " 

"My  heart  weeps  for  her,"  whispered  old  Thopt ;  "for 
the  Egyptians  are  not  as  the  Christians  are.  They  have  a 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  109 

shuddering  horror  of  death,  and  it  is  to  them  the  sum 
of  all  possible  wretchedness." 

And  so  the  weary  hours  passed  slowly,  and,  at  last, 
came  Theckla  and  Arius  home  ;  and  the  girl,  bounding 
into  her  mother's  room,  cast  her  arms  about  her  and 
kissed  her  passionately.  And  when  the  mother  broke  out 
into  renewed  waitings,  the  daughter  said  :  "  Nay,  mother, 
why  dost  thou  lament  so  bitterly  ?  Surely  thou  art  much 
better  now,  and  father  will  soon  return  to  comfort  thee. 
Cheer  up  thyself  with  the  hope  of  speedily  returning  health 
and  strength." 

"  Alas  !  alas  !  thy  father  will  return  no  more  ! — no 
more  !  Ah,  nevermore  ! " 

Then  with  startled,  wondering  eyes,  the  young  girl 
gazed  into  her  mother's  face,  crying  out:  "What  mean 
est  thou  ?  He  hath  always  come  back  from  every  ab 
sence  joyously;  why  sayst  thou  'No  more  —  ah,  never, 
more,'  so  sorrowfully  ?  Surely  he  must  again  return  to 
us!" 

Then  it  seemed  apparent  enough  that  these  Egyp 
tians  had  such  an  awful  terror  of  death,  and  the  girl 
had  been  so  carefully  guarded  against  all  knowledge 
thereof,  that  she  could  scarcely  realize  what  thing  was 
meant  thereby ;  for  the  Egyptians  said  nothing  of 
"death,"  but  only,  "He  hath  gone  hence,"  or  "He  is 
the  Hesiri  justified." 

"He  is  dead,  poor  child !"  moaned  the  mother,  "swal 
lowed  up  forever  by  the  cruel,  unrelenting  sea !  Thou 
wilt  see  his  face,  and  hear  his  voice,  and  spring  to  meet 
his  fond  caress  no  more,"  she  wailed — "no  more!" 


110  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  Is  he,  then,  the  Hesiri  justified  ?  "  she  asked,  a  name 
less  wonder  and  terror  taking  hold  upon  her  soul. 

"Oh,  thou  wilt  break  all  my  heart!"  she  answered. 
"He  hath  died  without  a  sarcophagus  and  the  mummy- 
cloth.  How  shall  he,  then,  dare  to  meet  the  dreadful 
Ma-t  in  the  dark  hall  wherein  she  sitteth  as  the  Two 
Truths,  judge  of  all  the  dead?" 

Then  the  full  desolation  of  her  father's  awful  fate, 
and  of  her  own  mighty  loss,  for  the  first  time  swept  her 
young  heart  with  terrible  distinctness,  and,  sinking  down 
beside  her  mother,  the  girl  blended  her  broken-hearted 
wailings  with  the  woman's  bitter  cries. 

"Leave  them  together,"  said  Arete,  and  she  and  old 
Thopt  quietly  withdrew.  And  she  informed  Ammonius 
of  the  sorrowful  condition  of  their  guests,  and,  with  her 
dark  eyes  full  of  sympathetic  tears,  she  said,  "It  is  a 
harrowing  grief,  and  I  was  so  young  when  I  became  a 
Christian,  and  view  death  so  differently  from  them,  that 
I  know  not  how  to  offer  consolation  for  such  sorrow." 

"Thou  shalt  leave  them  alone  for  the  present,"  an 
swered  Ammonius.  "The  Egyptians  have  no  consola 
tion  except  those  which  their  erroneous  faith  buildeth 
upon  the  sarcophagus  and  the  mummy-rites  —  all  exter 
nal  consolations  —  of  which,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  they 
are  deprived.  Let  them  alone.  Perhaps  the  Lord  will 
show  us  some  way  to  aid  them,  or  their  violent  grief 
will  wear  out  itself  in  lamentations.  All  thou  canst  do 
is  but  to  wait  and  hope." 

The  long  night  passed  wearily  away.  Arete  and  old 
Thopt  divided  the  watches  thereof  between  them,  as 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  Ill 

they  had  done  ever  since  Hatasa  came  to  Baucalis,  to 
see  that  she  wanted  no  attention  which  kindness  could 
supply  ;  but  neither  of  them  knew  how  to  utter  sooth 
ing  words  unto  a  grief  that  seemed  so  hopeless ;  for  the 
religion  of  Egypt  contained  no  word  of  comfort  for  such 
grief,  and  the  beautiful  idolaters  were  ignorant  of  that 
of  Jesus.  All  that  mother  and  daughter  knew  of  re 
ligious  faith  kept  forcing  back  upon  their  broken  hearts 
the  dreadful  conviction  that  the  soul's  condition  after 
death  depended  upon  the  building  of  a  sarcophagus  and 
the  preparation  of  the  mummy,  in  accordance  with  the 
rites  prescribed  in  "The  Book  of  the  Dead";  and  in 
such  a  case  as  this  no  mummy-rites  could  be  paid  un 
less  the  corpse  could  be  recovered ;  and,  although  the 
sarcophagus  might  be  builded,  they  did  not  know  but 
that  the  father  and  husband  whom  they  loved  might  be 
judged  by  the  awful  goddess  Ma-t  before  this  work  could 
be  completed ;  and  none  of  the  exceptions  made  by  their 
religion  in  favor  of  those  who  fell  in  battle  for  the 
rulers  of  Egypt,  or  who  perished  by  shipwreck,  applied 
to  the  case  of  Amosis,  for  he  had  lost  his  life  in  a  pri 
vate  quarrel  after  the  shipwreck  had  happened.  Their 
hopeless  sorrow  was  pitiful,  indeed ;  but  the  young  girl 
fell  back  upon  a  final  truth  when  she  kept  repeating  to 
her  mother,  over  and  over  again,  her  own  convictions  in 
such  words  as  these  :  "  Thou  knowest  that  he  was  a  good 
and  upright  man,  doing  only  what  he  did  believe  to  be 
right  and  just,  and  surely  the  greatest  God  of  all,  by 
whatever  name  he  may  be  known,  will  be  most  merciful 
to  him  without  a  sarcophagus  or  the  mummy-rites." 


112  ARIU8  THE  LIBYAN. 

And  so  the  young  idolater,  not  knowing  the  law,  but 
doing  by  nature  the  things  which  are  written  in  the  law, 
became  a  law  unto  herself,  and  the  unknown  God,  whom 
she  did  ignorantly  worship  to  that  extent  which  was  com 
mensurate  with  her  faith,  revealed  himself  unto  her ;  and 
even  from  this  unreasoning  hope  they  both  drew  some 
thing  of  comfort.  And  during  the  night  Theckla  in 
formed  her  mother  of  her  visit  to  the  old  eremite  Am- 
nem-hat,  and  of  his  having  been  priest  at  Thebes  and 
high-priest  at  Ombos ;  and  how  ancient,  wise,  and  good 
he  seemed  to  be ;  and  that  he  had  promised  to  come  to 
the  cottage  on  the  following  day,  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  out  of  his  vast  stores  of  wisdom  he  might  be  able 
to  bring  forth  some  truth  that  would  yield  them  surer 
consolation ;  and  this  also  somewhat  comforted  that  bit 
terly  smitten  pair. 

And  early  the  next  morning  Arius  went  to  the  abode 
of  Am-nem-hat,  leading  the  she-ass  on  which  his  mother 
was  accustomed  to  ride,  and,  having  got  the  ancient  com 
fortably  seated  upon  the  jennet,  he  led  her  down  the 
mountain  and  unto  the  cottage  of  Baucalis  safely,  where 
all  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  priest  to  whose  visit 
Hatasa  looked  forward  with  vague  but  earnest  hope.  And, 
when  the  old  man  had  come,  Ammonius,  with  great  re 
spect  and  tenderness,  assisted  him  to  dismount,  and  led 
him  unto  the  house.  And,  having  most  kindly  received 
him,  they  told  him  of  the  sorrowful  woman,  and  how  anx 
iously  she  had  anticipated  his  coming,  and  he  said,  "  Let 
me  go  unto  her  at  once." 

And,  when  he  had  entered  her  chamber,  he  stood  in  the 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  113 

middle  of  the  floor,  and,  with  his  raised  and  extended 
arms  crossed  at  the  wrists  in  likeness  of  a  cross  (for  the 
cross  is  ages  older  than  Jesus).,  he  looked  upon  Hatasa,  say 
ing  :  "Whatever  God  is  greater  than  Ra,  whatever  God  is 
wiser  than  Ptah,  and  whatever  God  is  more  merciful  than 
Hesiri-Hes,  and  more  just  than  Ma-t,  by  whatsoever  name 
the  great  God  of  all  ought  to  be  known  among  men,  I  in 
voke  him  to  bless  and  comfort  thee,  0  daughter  of  afflic 
tion.  May  that  truest  and  highest  God  lift  up  the  light  of 
his  face  upon  thee  and  give  thee  peace  ! " 

Then,  sitting  down  beside  her  couch,  he  took  her  hand 
in  his,  saying  kindly, "  Daughter,  what  is  thy  name  ?" 

"  Hatasa,"  answered  she. 

"Art  thou  of  Alexandria  ?." 

"Yea,"  she  said.  "But  my  family  were  of  Thebes, 
where  lived  and  died  my  father  Ahmad,  and  my  grand 
father,  Butau,  and  many  generations  more." 

"  Butau,  of  Thebes  !  "  said  the  old  man.  "  Hast  thou, 
then,  never  heard  of  Am-nem-hat,  priest  at  Thebes,  high- 
priest  at  Ombos  ?  " 

"Surely  so,"  she  answered.  "For  the  same  wise  and 
holy  priest  was  the  brother  of  my  grandfather  Butau,  the 
great  general,  and  I  have  often  heard  my  parents  speak  of 
the  sacred  priest  with  reverence  and  pride." 

"  I  am  that  Am-nem-hat,  and  thou  hast  found  a  kins 
man  in  whom  thou  mayst  implicitly  confide. " 

Then  seized  she  his  hand,  and,  kissing  it,  she  cried,  "  I 
do  rejoice  thereat,  and  welcome  thee  as  kinsman,  and  as 
sacred  priest  most  pious  and  most  wise." 

Then  she  poured  out  to  him  the  burden  of  her  heart, 


114  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

and  asked  him  if  there  was  any  hope,  her  husband  having 
builded  no  sarcophagus,  and  having  had  no  mummy-rites. 
And  the  old  man  answered  mournfully,  "  Daughter,  as  an 
Alexandrian,  thou  shouldst  know  the  vast  temple  of  Serapis 
which  standeth  before  the  magnificent  street,  two  hundred 
feet  wide,  in  Khacotis.  the  western  and  Egyptian  quarter 
of  the  city — the  grand  and  beautiful  temple  which  con- 
taineth  the  statue  of  the  god  that  was  brought  thither  out 
of  Pontus?" 

"Yea,  father,"  answered  she,  "from  childhood  I  have 
known  the  holy  temple  well." 

"  And  didst  thou  also  know  the  wise  and  pious  Kaph- 
nath,  high-priest  of  that  temple,  who  died  there  some  fif 
teen  years  ago  ?  " 

"Yea,  verily,  I  remember  him  quite  well." 

"  He  and  I  were  boys,  at  Thebes,  in  the  'great  temple 
together.  All  his  lifetime  we  were  friends.  When  he  felt 
that  his  physical  powers  were  failing,  and  that  the  end  of 
his  long  and  holy  life  was  fast  approaching,  he  sent  unto 
me  to  come  to  him  and  spend  his  last  days  with  him  ;  and 
so  it  happened  that  I  was  at  Alexandria  when  the  ancient 
high-priest  died.  We  did  talk  much  and  often  of  our  long 
religious  lives  ;  much,  of  our  learned  ignorance  ;  much,  of 
the  destiny  of  the  human  soul ;  much,  of  the  truth.  When 
I  did  ask  of  him  whether  he  had  any  special  request  to 
make  concerning  his  own  funeral  rites,  he  answered  me  in 
some  such  words  as  these  :  '  Nay,  my  brother.  Let  the 
obsequies  be  simply  conducted,  but  in  accordance  with  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  prescribed  for  a  priest's  funeral  by 
'  The  Book  of  the  Dead.'  For  although  both  thou  and  I  be 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  115 

well  aware  that  the  sarcophagus  is  naught,  and  the  mum 
my  naught,  and  that  no  rites  nor  ceremonies  which  men 
can  devise  in  any  way  concern  the  soul  after  death,  yet, 
because  the  law  and  order  system  of  Kem  hath  been  for  so 
many  centuries  built  up  on  these  vain  things,  I  desire  that 
the  usual  forms  be  all  observed  at  mine  own  funeral.  Al 
though  surely  no  high-priest  of  Egypt  ought  to  think  that 
it  can  make  any  difference  to  the  soul  how,  or  when,  or  by 
what  means,  a  man  may  depart  this  life,  or  whether  any 
funeral  rites  are  paid  or  not ;  for  thou  knowest  that  the 
true  purpose  of  religion  is  to  control  the  living,  and  that 
the  dead  are  far  beyond  the  reach  of  human  agencies.' 

"  '  On  what,  then,  dependeth  thy  soul's  condition  in  the 
other  world  ? '  I  said. 

"  '  Surely/  he  said,  '  upon  nothing  that  any  priest  can 
do  or  leave  undone,  but  upon  whether  the  man  hath  done 
his  duties  well  according  to  the  best  of  his  faith  and  knowl 
edge.' 

"  And  afterward,  and  almost  in  the  hour  of  his  disso 
lution,  I  said  unto  him  again,  '  Brother,  how  farest  thou  ?' 
And  he  answered  me,  saying  :  {  The  light  of  life  within  me 
burneth  low  and  flickereth.  It  will  soon  go  out.  But  I 
fare  well  and  peacefully. ' 

"  '  And  thou  hast  no  fear  of  awful  Ma-t,  my  brother, 
and  of  the  silent  hall  wherein  the  Two  Truths  judge  the 
dead  ? ' 

"  And  smilingly  he  answered  me  :  '  Nay,  Brother  Am- 
nem-hat.  No  man  attaineth  to  the  high-priesthood  in 
Egypt  without  having  learned  that  the  things  of  which 
thou  speakest  are  for  the  people — not  for  the  higher 


116  AKIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

priests — part  of  the  system  which  we  administer,  not  final 
truths  for  us.  For  I  know,  as  thou  also  knowest,  that 
above  and  beyond  the  grand  Egyptian  triads,  there  must 
be  some  supreme  God  over  all  whom  we  ignorantly  wor 
ship  ;  who  is  patient  because  he  is  eternal,  and  merciful  be 
cause  he  is  all-wise  ;  and  having  all  these  years  discharged, 
as  faithfully  as  human  frailties  might  permit,  every  duty 
that  came  under  my  hand,  I  look  away  above  the  gods  of 
Kem,  and  trust  myself  unshrinkingly  in  the  hands  of  the 
unknown  God,  in  whom  we  both  believe.'  And,  almost  in 
the  same  moment,  the  old  man  quietly  departed. — Daugh 
ter,  for  thee  and  for  thy  great  sorrow  there  is  no  consola 
tion  in  the  religion  of  Egypt.  All  of  the  consolation  I 
can  offer  is  to  tell  thee  plainly  that  the  things  which  the 
high-priest  Kaph-nath  declared  unto  me  upon  his  bed  of 
death  are  true ;  and,  as  the  sum  of  all  my  learning  and 
priestly  life,  I  say  unto  thee  that  thou  canst  do  nothing 
else  for  thyself,  nor  for  thy  husband,  nor  for  any  human 
soul,  except  to  cast  thyself  and  him  upon  the  mercy  of  the 
unknown  God,  hoping  and  believing  that  all  is  for  the 
best." 

The  old  man's  voice  was  tremulous,  and  his  grand,  pure 
face  was  full  of  compassion  as  he  uttered  these  words  in 
tones  of  inexpressible  and  uncomplaining  sadness,  and  with 
impressive  earnestness. 

"And  this  is  all?"  she  cried — "  all  that  the  old  religion 
of  Kem,  stripped  of  its  outward,  ornate  forms  and  cere 
monies,  has  to  offer  to  the  broken-hearted  ?  " 

"Yea,"  answered  Am-nem-hat.  "This  is  all,  indeed. 
And  it  is  little ;  and  the  prevailing  sadness  of  all  wise 


FAITH   AND   PHILOSOPHY.  117 

men  grows  out  of  this  ;  yet  the  heart  that  loves  and  trusts 
may  find  that  even  this  is  enough  to  reconcile  it  to  the 
grand  and  pitiless  course  of  nature.  So  saith  the  philoso 
pher  Seneca  :  '  We  shall  adore  all  that  ignoble  crowd  of 
gods  which  ancient  superstition  hath  gathered  together  in 
a  long  course  of  years,  only  so  as  to  remember  that  their 
worship  is  rather  in  accordance  with  custom  than  with 
reality  or  truth.'  And  again  he  saith,  'The  God  is  near 
you,  is  with  you,  is  within  you ' ;  and  again,  *  There  is  no 
good  man  without  God.' 

"And  Epictetus  also  saith  :  'If  you  remember  always 
that,  in  all  you  do  in  soul  or  body,  God  stands  by  as  a  wit 
ness,  in  all  your  prayers  and  your  actions  you  will  not  err, 
and  you  shall  have  God  dwelling  within  you.'  And  he 
saith  :  '  Great  is  the  struggle,  divine  the  need ;  it  is  for 
kingdom,  for  freedom,  for  tranquillity,  for  peace.  Think 
on  God ;  call  upon  him,  thy  champion  and  aid,  as  sailors 
invoke  the  great  twin  brothers  in  the  storm.  And,  indeed, 
what  storm  is  greater  than  that  which  ariseth  out  of  power 
ful  semblances  (appearances  of  evil),  that  drive  reason  out 
of  its  course  ?  What,  indeed,  but  semblance  is  a  storm  it 
self  ?  Come,  now,  therefore,  remove  this  fear  of  death,  and 
bring  as  many  thunders  and  lightnings  as  thou  wilt,  and 
thou  shalt  soon  perceive  how  great  tranquillity  and  calm  are 
in  that  reason  which  is  the  ruling  faculty  of  the  soul.*  And 
he  saith  further  :  <  Thou  must  be  absolutely  resigned  to 
the  will  of  God.  Thou  mast  conquer  every  passion,  abro 
gate  every  desire.'  And  one  greater,  sadder,  diviner  than 
them  all,  even  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  Stoic  Emperor,  de- 
clareth  :  '  Surely  life  and  death,  honor  and  dishonor,  pain 


118  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

and  pleasure,  all  things  happen  equally  to  bad  men  and 
good,  being  things  that  make  us  neither  better  nor  worse, 
therefore  are  they  neither  good  nor  evil. '  And  he  saith  of 
every  man :  '  Thou  hast  embarked,  thou  hast  made  the  voy 
age  ;  thou  hast  come  to  shore  ;  get  out.  If,  indeed,  unto 
another  life,  there  is  even  there  no  want  of  gods ;  but  if 
unto  a  state  devoid  of  sensation,  thou  wilt  cease  to  be  held 
of  pains  and  pleasures.'  And  he  saith  :  'Then  pass  thou 
through  the  short  space  of  time  conformably  to  Nature,  and 
end  the  journey  in  content,  just  as  the  olive  falls  off  when 
it  is  ripe,  blessing  Nature  that  produced  it,  and  thanking 
the  tree  on  which  it  grew  ;  .  .  .  accepting  all  that  happens, 
and  all  that  is  allotted,  and  finally  waiting  for  death  with 
a  cheerful  mind.'  And  so  I  say  unto  thee  :  No  man  can 
do  more  for  thee,  for  thy  husband,  or  for  any  human 
soul,  than  to  fall  back  upon  the  mercy  of  an  unknown 
God,  and  seek  for  peace  in  the  grand  hope  that  all  is  for 
the  best." 

"  I  can  not  live  on  that,"  she  murmured.  "0  my  hus 
band,  all  my  heart  yearns  after  thee,  and  it  will  break 
within  me  unless  I  can  find  some  clearer,  higher  assurance 
of  the  mercy  of  Egypt's  gods  for  thee,  or  of  this  dim  and 
terrible  unknown  whom  Am-nem-hat  declares  to  be  in 
truth  the  only  one.  I  can  not  live  in  this  void  uncer 
tainty  and  darkness !  0  Amosis,  my  husband !  0  ye 
cruel  gods ! " 

"These  good  people  among  whom  I  find  thee,"  said 
Am-nem-hat,  "  are  followers  of  the  new  God,  Jesus  Christ, 
a  sect  that  is  everywhere  spoken  against.  I  have,  however, 
a  very  favorable  opinion  of  Jesus  and  of  his  religion,  and  I 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  119 

take  it  for  granted  that  thou  dost  not  know  the  truth  con 
cerning  them.  Perhaps  they  could  teach  unto  thee  some 
consolation  for  thy  sorrow." 

"  The  hated  Christians  ! "  she  cried  out,  bitterly.  "  Why, 
when  my  lord  Amosis  lost  his  life,  he  was  even  then  upon 
his  way  to  Rome  to  obtain  from  the  Emperor  power  and 
authority  to  extirpate  the  impious  and  terrible  association 
from  Egypt.  If  they  had  known  this  fact,  perhaps  I  had 
been  already  reconciled,  or  at  least  silenced,  by  the  icy  hand 
of  death." 

"Nay,  nay,  mother,"  cried  Theckla.  "That  is  but  an 
unjust  thing,  for  they  knew  from  the  first,  and  from  thine 
own  unconscious  talk,  that  father  desired  to  destroy  them 
all ;  and  the  lad  Arius,  their  son,  charged  me  that  I  should 
not  tell  thee  until  thou  wert  stronger ;  for  that  it  might 
distress  thee,  and  could  do  no  good.  He  is  a  true-hearted 
boy,  and  I  think  a  wise  one  also." 

"  And  they  have  treated  their  known  enemy  with  more 
than  sisterly  care  and  kindness,"  said  Hatasa.  "  Surely  it 
is  most  strange  !  " 

But  Am-nem-hat  said :  "I  have  seen  the  Christians 
tortured,  decapitated,  burned  at  the  stake,  and  have  heard 
them  even  with  their  last  breath  pray  to  their  God  to  for 
give  those  who  punished  them  with  such  torments.  It  is  a 
new  and  most  strange  religion,  and  possibly  it  might  do 
thee  good.  No  gods  of  Kem  can  aid  thee  in  thy  sorrow." 

"I  wish  that  I  could  see  the  boy,"  she  said. 

And  Theckla  sprang  up  quickly,  saying,  "  I  will  bring 
him  unto  thee." 

And  thereupon  she  went  forth  of  the  room  and  sought 


120  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Arius  until  she  found  him ;  and  she  said,  "  Arius,  my 
mother  desireth  much  to  speak  with  thee  concerning  thy 
religion." 

And  the  boy  said,  "  I  go  unto  her  gladly,  and  may  the 
Lord  direct  me  what  to  say  unto  her  !  " 

And  when  the  boy  had  come  into  that  room  where  she 
was,  Am-nem-hat  said  :  "  I  have  discovered  that  Hatasa  is 
the  granddaughter  of  my  brother,  and  she  seemeth  very 
dear  to  me,  that  am  childless.  Thou  knowest  the  great 
sorrow  for  which  I  have  been  able  to  offer  no  consolation, 
except  to  bid  her  cast  herself  upon  the  mercy  of  the  un 
known  God  in  some  way,  and  seek  for  him  if  by  chance 
she  might  find  him,  and  obtain  mercy.  For  neither  faith 
nor  philosophy,  as  I  have  learned  them,  goeth  one  single 
step  beyond  where  this  dim,  uncertain  light  guideth  the 
soul,  and  we  must  therewith  be  content. " 

"But,"  moaned  the  stricken  woman,  "this  chill  and 
shadowy  uncertainty  will  drive  me  mad.  My  soul  yearneth 
after  my  loving,  noble  husband. — 0  boy,  if  thou  knowest 
anything  that  bringest  comfort  in  the  very  face  of  pitiless 
Death,  speak  thou  to  me,  and  speak  thou  truthfully ;  for  I 
am  sore  afflicted  and  without  hope  !  How,  when  all  the 
gods  of  Egypt  fail  me — how  can  I  trust  the  mercy  of  a 
strange  and  unknown  God  ?  " 

Then  the  God-ordained  minister  stood  up  before  them, 
and  with  that  strange,  continuous,  rhythmic  motion  of  the 
hand,  with  his  fine  head  erect  and  bending  toward  her 
from  the  long  and  shapely  neck,  his  luminous  eyes  agleam 
with  strange  mesmeric  light,  his  voice  sibilant,  tremulous, 
incisive,  began  to  preach  his  first  little  sermon  in  a  way 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  121 

that  grace  and  training  made  natural  unto  him  :  "  Trouble 
not  thine  heart,  0  woman,  with  any  thought  about  the 
gods  of  Egypt,  for  I  tell  thee  that  the  unknown  God  to 
whom  all  men  turn  in  time  of  sorest  trial  and  sorrow,  even 
as  Am-nem-hat  hath  declared  unto  thee,  is  no  more  un 
known,  but  is  one  God  over  all,  blessed  for  evermore,  and 
hath  revealed  himself  unto  men  through  his  Son,  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  who  loved  us,  and  hath  borne  all 
of  our  sins  upon  himself,  that  we  by  faith  in  him  may  so 
be  free ;  for,  to  them  who  believe  in  Jesus,  life  and  im 
mortality  are  brought  to  light  in  the  gospel,  and  for  them 
death  hath  no  sting,  the  grave  no  victory. — What  name  do 
ye  Egyptians  give  unto  the  burial-place  of  your  dead  ?" 

The  boy  paused,  and  looked  upon  her,  demanding  an 
answer  with  his  eyes. 

"  We  call  it  sarcophagus,"  she  replied. 

"Yea,"  he  continued,  "sarcophagus!  The  devourer 
of  human  flesh  !  But  we  Christians  call  it  cemeterion — a 
sleeping-ground ;  because  we  know  that  Jesus  arose  from 
the  dead  for  our  justification,  and  know  that  all  they  who 
sleep  in  death  shall  rise  again  ;  for  so  our  Lord  hath  taught 
us.  Thou  complainest  that  the  light  of  nature  is  dim  and 
chill,  and  giveth  thee  no  certain  guide  nor  hope  !  Thou 
meanest  that  the  course  of  nature  is  stern,  pitiless,  impla 
cable  ;  teaching  only  that  one  must  submit  to  the  inevi 
table  without  hope  ;  a  forced  resignation  in  which  there  is 
no  comfort ;  an  iron  stoicism  which  teaches  us  to  endure 
pain  bravely  but  furnisheth  no  compensation  for  sorrow ; 
the  obedience  of  a  slave  who  knows  that  it  is  impossible  to 
resist  and  foolish  to  attempt  it ;  not  the  faith  and  love  of  a 


122  ARIUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

child  that  obeys  because  he  loves,  and  bears  chastisement 
meekly  because  he  knows  that  infinite  wisdom  and  exhaust- 
less  love  inflict  it  for  his  good.  0  woman,  listen  what 
the  divine  Son  of  God,  who  took  our  nature  upon  himself 
and  was  in  all  things  touched  with  the  feelings  of  our  in 
firmities,  saith  unto  thee  :  '  Come  unto  me,  thou  weary  and 
heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  thee  rest.  Like  as  a  father 
pitieth  his  childen,  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God  is  over 
thee.  He  that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die,  for  life  and 
immortality  are  brought  to  light  in  the  gospel,  which  is  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation  for 
every  one  that  believeth.'  For  Jesus  loveth  thee  ;  he  died 
to  save  thee  and  to  give  thee  peace ;  and  his  blood  can 
cleanse  thee  from  all  sin,  so  that  thou  mayst  be  justi 
fied  by  faith,  and  find  peace  in  believing,  and  in  all  times 
of  tribulation  and  distress  thou  mayst  find  Jesus  a  present 
help  and  saviour.  0  woman,  sorely  smitten  !  which  one 
of  the  gods  of  Kem  hath  died  to  redeem  thy  soul  ?  " 

"None,"  she  answered — "none  ! " 

"Which  one  of  them  cleanseth  thee  from  sin,  and 
giveth  thee  a  sure,  unfailing  promise  of  eternal  life,  there 
by  releasing  thee  from  the  fear  of  death  that  keepeth  man 
kind  in  bondage,  teaching  that  death  is  but  a  change 
through  which  the  conscious  spirit  passeth  into  larger 
life?" 

"None  !  not  one," she  answered.  "  I  have  never  heard 
such  glorious  promises  from  any  priest." 

"  But  to  make  these  glorious  promises  steadfast,  abid 
ing,  true,  the  Son  of  God  took  upon  himself  our  nature ; 
became  a  man  for  our  justification,  and  offered  up  himself 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  123 

a  divine  and  perfect  sacrifice  for  us,  to  make  atonement  for 
our  sins  ;  and  having  submitted  himself  to  be  crucified  by 
Pontius  Pilate,  the  third  day  he  arose  from  the  dead, 
whereby  we  know  that  we  also  shall  rise.  Seek  thou  for 
Christ  by  faith,  for  in  him  are  joy  and  peace.  In  him  are 
hope  for  all  bereavement,  consolation  for  all  grief.  He 
loveth  thee.  He  so  loved  thee  as  to  die  for  thee  !  Come 
thou  to  him,  and  thou  shalt  learn  how  kind,  and  compas 
sionate,  and  merciful  a  loving  God  can  be  !  For  all  that 
hath  happened  unto  thee  is  not  the  cruel,  blind,  relentless 
infliction  of  merciless  fate,  working  through  nature  ;  nor 
is  it  the  vengeance  of  an  angry  God  upon  thee  and  thy 
husband  ;  but  is  only  the  wise  chastisement  of  thy  Fa 
ther,  God,  whereby  he  seeketh  to  wean  thee  away  from  the 
love  of  this  vain  and  transitory  life,  and  to  draw  thy  spirit 
upward  to  himself,  and  to  the  glory  of  the  world  to  come. 
Oh,  if  thou  wilt  believe  in  Christ,  thou  shalt  find  before  his 
mercy-seat  a  refuge  from  every  stormy  wind  that  blows, 
and  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding,  that  floweth  as  a 
river,  that  teacheth  thee  that  these  light  afflictions,  which 
are  but  for  a  moment,  shall  work  out  for  thee  a  far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  in  that  bright  world 
to  which  we  haste.  Seek  thou  for  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
know  how  good,  and  pure,  and  holy  an  exercise  even  thy 
human  sorrow  and  yearning  may  become." 

Then  said  the  woman  :  "  It  is  all  very  beautiful  and 
comforting,  and  I  would  know  more  of  it.  But  tell  me 
where  I  may  find  a  temple  in  which  these  things  are 
saught,  and  a  priest  that  knoweth  them." 

Then  answered  Arius  :  "We  have  no  temple  here  ;  and 


124  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Jesus  is  our  only  priest.  But  there  are  bishops  and  pres 
byters  who  preach  the  gospel,  when  the  Christians  assemble 
together.  And  in  every  Christian  family  there  are  daily 
religious  exercises." 

"Dost  thou  have  such  worship  here  in  thy  father's 
house  ?  " 

"  Assuredly  !  on  the  evening  of  every  day." 

"And  at  what  place?" 

"In  any  place  that  may  be  most  convenient.  In  thine 
own  apartment,  if  thou  wilt." 


CHAPTER  XI. 
"FOB  THE  WOBK'S  SAKE." 

THAT  night,  at  the  request  of  Hatasa,  the  whole  family 
assembled  in  her  room,  and  she  insisted  upon  having  them 
engage  in  their  usual  religious  exercises,  to  which  she 
listened  with  profoundest  attention,  and  with  a  certain 
amazement ;  for  it  was  hard  for  her  to  grasp  at  once  the 
idea  that  God  might  be  worshiped  without  a  temple,  a 
priest,  and  a  sacrifice  ;  but  the  fact  furnished  its  own  best 
explanation.  And  the  sorrowful  woman  soon  found  herself 
following  with  a  new,  strange  sort  of  interest  the  reading 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  earnest,  extemporaneous,  sympathetic 
prayer  of  Ammonius,  in  which  he  pleaded  with  God  not 
to  suffer  his  dear  and  sorrowful  guests,  nor  the  aged  and 
righteous  priest,  who  had  so  long  sought  for  the  truth,  to 
depart  from  his  abode  without  having  learned  by  blessed 
experience  how  freely  Jesus  can  forgive,  and  what  light 
and  peace  his  gospel  can  afford  to  all  who  believe  thereon. 

After  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises,  Am-nem-hat 
saith  to  Ammonius,  "  There  are  some  things  connected 
with  thy  simple  and  beautiful  religion  about  which  I  would 
question  thee  when  thou  shalt  have  leisure  and  inclination 

to  answer  me." 
9 


126  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Then  said  Ammonius  :  "  Whenever  thou  wilt !  Even 
now,  if  thou  wilt  go  with  me  into  another  room,  where  our 
conversation  may  not  weary  the  others." 

"  Nay,"  cried  Hatasa.  "  Go  not  hence,  I  beg  ;  for  I 
eagerly  desire  to  hear  such  conversation." 

Then  said  Am-nem-hat  :  "  I  know  the  Jewish  scrip 
tures,  and  also  the  new  books  which  the  Christians  have 
written  ;  but  I  desire  thee  to  tell  me  plainly  what  the 
evidence  is  of  the  fact,  upon  which  thou  dost  continually 
insist,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  Pilate  crucified,  is  the 
Christ." 

"  The  evidence  is  primarily  historical  and  prophetic," 
said  Ammonius,  "  based  chiefly  upon  the  Jewish  laws  and 
prophecies  concerning  him  that  were  written  centuries  be 
fore  the  advent  of  our  Lord,  and  that  do  testify  of  him." 

"Yea,"  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "but  these  proofs  only 
go  to  establish  the  coming  of  a  Divine  Man,  in  whom  not 
only  Plato  and  Socrates,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  Jews, 
but  the  Egyptians  also,  and  many  more,  believed.  I  speak 
not  of  proofs  that  Messiah  was  to  come,  but  of  the  proof 
that  Jesus,  whom  Pilate  crucified,  was  he." 

"The  evidences  upon  this  point  are  twofold,"  an 
swered  Ammonius.  "  One  line  of  proof  which  is  the  most 
satisfying,  and  which  in  fact  amounts  to  positive  knowl 
edge,  is  the  personal  consciousness  of  the  believer,  experi 
mental  religion,  whereby  he  knoweth  that  faith,  the  con 
viction  of  sin,  the  justification  of  the  believer,  and  all  of 
the  phenomena  which  must  necessarily  attend  the  faith, 
are  true.  But  this  highest,  most  satisfactory,  most  scien 
tific  form  of  evidence  is  of  course  inaccessible  to  one  that 


"FOR  THE   WORK'S  SAKE."  127 

believeth  not,  except  by  the  testimony  of  those  who  have 
personal  experience  of  the  truth.  The  other  line  of  evi 
dence  is  founded  on  the  fact  that  the  prophecies  foretold 
for  centuries  just  what  Messiah  should  do  and  suffer  when 
he  might  come,  and  we  know  that  Jesus  did  and  suf- 
ered  just  those  things — many  of  them  not  possible  to  be 
done  without  the  Divinity — as  healing  of  the  sick,  unstop 
ping  the  deaf  ears,  cleansing  the  lepers,  restoring  sight  to 
the  blind,  raising  the  dead,  and  preaching  good  tidings 
to  the  poor  ;  all  of  which  things  Jesus  customarily  did,  all 
of  which  things  his  followers  have  done  from  that  day  to 
this  ;  whereby  we  know  that  he  is  Christ  indeed." 

"  Dost  thou  mean  to  assert  that  the  Christians  yet  work 
miracles  ?  "  asked  Am-nem-hat. 

"Assuredly,"  replied  Ammonius.  "Jesus  not  only 
did  the  miracles  himself,  but  did  solemnly  promise  that, 
wherever  his  disciples  should  continue  to  obey  him  in  all 
things,  they  should  be  able,  by  faith  in  his  name,  to  do 
thaumaturgical  works  even  unto  the  end  of  time ;  and 
they  have  certainly  done  so  ever  since." 

"  Dost  thou  really  believe  that  thou  hast  seen  a  miracle 
with  thine  own  eyes  ?  " 

"Yea,  verily,"  said  Ammonius,  "and  many  of  them." 

The  ancient  paused  a  long  time,  and  seemed  lost  in  pro- 
foundest  meditation.  At  length  he  answered  in  a  tone  of 
inexpressible  sadness  and  weariness:  "I  was  in  the  tem 
ple  service  at  Thebes  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and  much  of 
the  time  a  priest.  At  Ombos  I  was  high-priest  for  five-and- 
twenty  years,  and  until  some  five  years  ago.  I  have  seen 
some  wonders,  indeed,  which  the  people  called  miracles. 


128  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

but  alas  !  alas  !  I  know  just  how  those  things  were  done  ! 
The  sun  rises  and  sets,  and  no  man  hindereth  it !  The 
Nile  overfloweth  its  banks,  and  refresheth  all  the  land  of 
Kem,  and  shrinketh  back  in  his  accustomed  channel ;  the 
stars  in  heaven  pursue  their  bright  and  tranquil  way,  and 
seed-time  cometh,  and  the  harvest ;  and  life  and  death. 
All  nature  moves  on  in  obedience  to  fixed,  changeless,  uni 
versal  laws,  which  have  been  from  the  beginning ;  and  I 
find  myself  unable  to  believe  that  these  laws  were  ever 
violated,  or  suspended,  in  order  to  furnish  evidences  of 
any  religion,  or  for  any  purpose  whatever  ;  although,  no 
doubt,  good  men  may  believe  that  such  things  have  oc 
curred.  " 

"And  as  to  that,"  said  Ammonius,  "beyond  any  ques 
tion  thou  art  right.  He  hath  but  a  poor  conception  of  our 
God  who  thinketh  that,  in  creating  a  world  wherein  he 
intended  miracles  to  occur,  he  did  not  know  enough  to  pro 
vide  natural  laws  by  which  these  phenomena  might  come 
to  pass  without  violating  or  suspending  the  established  or 
der.  But,  if  I  could  know  that  it  violates  or  suspends  any 
law  of  nature  to  raise  the  dead,  I  would  not  believe  such  a 
fact,  although  I  have  seen  it  done.  But  why  dost  thou 
suppose  that  the  anastasis  of  the  dead  is  contrary  to  natu 
ral  law  ?  Our  Lord  hath  never  said  so  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  came  to  fulfill,  not  to  violate,  the  law.  Surely  thou 
canst  not  declare  that  any  miracle  violates  or  suspends,  or 
is  without  law,  unless  thou  canst  first  truthfully  declare 
that  all  laws  are  known  to  thee,  and  that  among  them 
there  is  none  by  which  the  dead  might  be  raised  up.  But 
although  thou  art  wise  and  learned,  thou  knowest  that  Na- 


"FOR  THE   WORK'S   SAKE."  129 

ture  withholdeth  many  secrets  yet  from  thee.  Thou  know- 
est  that  no  man  hath  mastered  all  her  laws  ;  and  even  those 
which  we  know  may  be  weak,  and  mean,  and  narrow,  com 
pared  with  those  of  which  we  are  profoundly  ignorant. 
But  we  Christians  teach  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  con 
fusion,  but  of  order  ;  that  all  laws  of  nature,  physical,  men 
tal,  spiritual,  are  but  the  expression  of  his  will,  which 
must  be  harmonious  throughout,  and  can  not  be  self -con 
tradictory  ;  and  that  just  as  he  hath  made  some  law  by 
which  water  seeks  a  level,  and  by  which  heavy  bodies  tend 
toward  the  center  of  the  world,  and  by  which  oil  and  water, 
that  repel  each  other  by  nature,  will  unite  with  an  alkali 
to  make  a  new  creature,  just  so  he  hath  established  laws 
by  which  the  miracles  are  done ;  so  that  the  anastasis  of 
the  dead,  or  any  other  miracle,  must  be  as  purely  and 
truly  a  natural  phenomenon  as  is  the  rising  of  the  sun, 
or  the  falling  of  the  dew — not  so  common,  perhaps, 
because  these  phenomena  involve  powers  and  faculties 
of  the  human  soul  that  do  not  act  always  and  auto 
matically  as  do  the  laws  of  physical  nature  ;  so  neither 
does  one  sleep,  or  talk,  or  think  always,  but  only  when 
he  wills  to  do  so." 

"  That  is  a  new,  strange  view  of  thaumaturgy  !  Thou 
sayst  e  the  miracles  are  under  law ' ;  perhaps,  then,  other 
men  besides  the  Christians  might  be  able  to  perform 
them." 

"  I  know  not  to  what  extent  it  might  be  possible  for 
other  men  to  exercise  the  power  of  faith  which  is  an 
essential  condition  in  the  working  of  miracles.  I  sup 
pose  they  might  do  wonderful  things,  that  would  bear 


130  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

about  the  same  relation  to  our  Christian  miracles  that 
their  various  religions  bear  to  our  holy  Christianity. 
And  I  suppose  that  the  witchcraft  and  demonology  de 
nounced  by  Moses  were  the  results  of  the  exercise  of 
faith  in  false  gods.  But  a  Christian  miracle,  depending 
upon  faith  in  Christ  as  a  primary  condition  for  the  ex 
ercise  of  thaumaturgical  power,  must  remain  impossible 
to  all  who  possess  not  that  faith.  Thou  hast  read  the 
Gospels,  and  thou  knowest  the  Lord  hath  said,  'If  ye 
had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  ye  might  say  unto 
this  mountain,  Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  it  should  obey  you.'  But  he 
also  said,  'Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.'" 

"I  infer,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "that  thou  thinkest 
faith  to  be  the  law  of  miracles ;  thou  thinkest  that  this 
faith  is  itself  a  force  in  nature  sufficient  for  the  accom 
plishment  of  physical  results ;  and  that  they  who  sin 
cerely  believe  may,  by  means  of  this  force,  even  raise 
up  the  dead.  Why,  then,  are  not  all  the  dead  raised 
up?" 

"Thou  hast  stated  the  law  rather  too  broadly,"  an 
swered  Ammonius.  "The  faith  that  worketh  miracles 
must  be  applied  under  proper  conditions  to  be  of  any 
avail.  Water,  oil,  and  alkali  do  not  always  produce 
soap,  but  only  when  the  proper  conditions  are  observed. 
So  I  suppose  that  no  man  could  be  raised  up  from  the 
dead  against  his  will;  and,  while  there  be  many  Chris 
tians  that  have  sought  for  martyrdom,  there  be  but  few 
that  were  willing  to  be  raised  again,  and  fewer  still  that 
ever  requested  the  brethren  to  pray  for  their  anastasis. 


"FOR  THE  WORK'S  SAKE."  131 

because  they  preferred  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  the 
Lord,  which  is  far  better." 

"I  do  remember,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "that  many 
years  ago,  when  Decius  was  Emperor  of  Rome,  a  bitter 
persecution  raged  against  the  Christians  at  Alexandria. 
I  saw  Julian,  and  Macar,  and  Epimachus,  and  Alexan 
der  burned  at  the  stake ;  and  truly  many  seemed  to  seek 
for  martyrdom  rather  than  to  shun  it,  a  fact  which  we 
attributed  to  a  certain  incorrigible  and  hopeless  wicked 
ness  in  them,  and  not,  as  thou  dost,  to  their  assurance 
of  obtaining  a  better  life.  I  suppose,  indeed,  that  such 
men  as  those  would  not  have  desired  to  be  restored  to 
a  life  which  they  seemed  anxious  to  lose ;  and  it  seem- 
eth  reasonable  enough  that,  even  if  it  had  been  possible 
to  do  so,  they  should  not  have  been  recalled  against 
their  will.  Wilt  thou  not  state  more  fully  yet  the  con 
ditions  upon  which  thou  thinkest  this  thaumaturgy  may 
be  exercised  ?  " 

"Faith  in  Jesus  is  the  primary  condition,"  said  Am- 
monius,  "but  there  are  also  others.  Once  a  man  came 
unto  our  Lord  and  besought  him  to  heal  his  son,  saying 
that  the  disciples  had  been  unable  to  do  so.  Our  Lord 
did  heal  him  with  a  word.  Afterward  the  disciples  in 
quired  of  him  why  it  was  that  they  had  failed  in  doing 
the  same  work,  and  he  said  unto  them  that  it  was  be 
cause  of  their  unbelief.  Now  thou  must  perceive  that 
it  was  not  because  of  their  want  of  faith  in  him,  for 
they  were  then  following  him;  so  that  it  must  have 
been  because  of  their  unbelief  in  their  own  power  and 
authority  to  do  the  work  in  his  name.  It  seemeth, 


132  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

therefore,  that  faith  on  the  part  of  the  thaumaturgist  in 
his  own  power  to  accomplish  the  miracle  in  the  Lord's 
name  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  thaumaturgy." 

"That  also  seemeth  to  be  a  reasonable  and  proper 
condition,"  answered  Am-nem-hat.  "  But  are  there  yet 
others?" 

"It  is  written  that  he  did  not  many  wonderful  works 
at  Capernaum  because  of  their  unbelief.  He  often  said 
to  those  who  asked  his  aid,  'Be  it  unto  thee  according 
to  thy  faith.'  And  from  these  facts  it  seems  to  follow 
that  faith  on  the  part  of  him  for,  or  upon,  whom  the 
work  was  to  be  done,  and  on  the  part  of  those  among 
whom  it  was  to  be  done,  was  also  one  of  the  conditions 
upon  which  the  exercise  of  thaumaturgical  power  de 
pended." 

"  But,"  objected  Am-nem-hat,  "  if  he  was  in  truth 
divine,  why  should  he  pay  any  attention  to  the  unbe 
lieving  or  to  the  unwilling  ?  Why  did  he  not  do  the 
miracles  in  defiance  of  them  all,  as  well  as  if  they  had 
been  faithful  and  willing  ? " 

"Because,"  answered  Ammonius,  "our  Lord  teach- 
eth  and  requireth  only  a  willing  obedience  and  faith. 
Not  God  himself  will  force  the  human  will ;  for  that 
which  is  of  compulsion  hath  no  morality.  It  is  of  ne 
cessity,  therefore,  neither  holy  nor  unholy.  A  necessary 
holiness  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  God's  use  of  sov 
ereignty  hath  been  to  make  man  free.  Besides,  faith  it 
self  is  the  law  of  miracles ;  to  have  wrought  miracles 
where  no  faith  was,  would  have  been  to  violate  the  very 
law  by  which  he  worked,  and  so  to  have  degraded  mira- 


"FOR  THE   WORK'S  SAKE."  133 

cles  to  the  plane  of  an  arbitrary  and  sporadic  exhibition  of 
divine  power,  instead  of  leaving  them  as  they  are,  the 
highest  result  of  the  very  highest  form  of  universal  law." 

"That  seemeth  reasonable  enough,"  rejoined  Am- 
nem-hat,  "and  in  accordance  with  my  conception  of  the 
character  of  a  holy  and  perfect  God.  But  as  I  perceive 
thou  clearly  comprehendest  the  Christian  system,  upon 
which  I  have  bestowed  much  thought  almost  in  vain, 
suffer  me  to  put  one  other  case  to  thee  which  seemeth 
to  me  to  be  inexplicable  upon  any  principles  which  thou 
hast  stated  as  constituent  elements  of  the  law  of  mira 
cles,  if  thou  art  not  yet  weary  of  my  questions." 

"Nay,"  said  Ammonius,  "I  am  not  weary.  Thou 
mayst  ask  many  things,  indeed,  which  I  know  not,  and 
can  not  answer ;  but,  so  far  as  I  can  give  thee  any  aid, 
it  affordeth  me  pleasure  to  answer  thee  as  intelligently 
as  I  can." 

"The  matter  is  this,"  said  Am-nem-hat.  "It  is  re 
corded  in  thy  sacred  books  that  when  the  apostles  were 
going  about  Jerusalem,  imparting  the  Paraclete  by  the 
laying  on  of  their  hands,  and  working  divers  miracles, 
one  Simon,  a  magician,  came  unto  them  and  offered 
money  unto  them  if  they  would  communicate  unto  him 
the  same  power,  so  that  he  also  might  become  a  thau- 
maturgist.  But  one  of  them,  named  Peter,  did  bitterly 
rebuke  him,  saying,  '  Thy  money  perish  with  thee ! ' 
Now,  the  apostles  had  faith  ;  the  people  who  saw  them 
doing  all  these  wonderful  works  had  faith,  and  were  bap 
tized  by  Philip.  Simon  Magus  himself  had  faith  as  much 
as  any  one  of  them,  and,  when  Peter  rebuked  him,  with 


134  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

fear  and  trembling  he  besought  Peter,  saying,  '  Pray  ye 
to  the  Lord  for  me,  that  none  of  these  things  which  ye 
have  spoken  come  upon  me.'  Now,  here  seem  to  have 
been  all  of  the  conditions  of  faith  and  willingness  in 
Simon  of  which  thou  hast  spoken,  and  yet  Peter  mani 
festly  regarded  the  desire  of  Simon  as  a  sort  of  sacrilege. 
Why  was  this  so  ? " 

"Why,"  said  Ammonius,  "Peter  declared  that  his 
thought  that  the  gift  of  God  may  be  purchased  with 
money  was  evil ;  and  that  his  heart  was  not  right  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  that  he  should  repent  of  his  wicked 
ness,  and  that  his  very  thought  showed  that  he  was  still 
in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the  bonds  of  iniquity." 

"That  is  very  true,"  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "but  his 
tender  of  money  to  the  apostles  only  proves  his  apprecia 
tion  of  the  value  of  the  power  which  he  desired  to  pur 
chase.  Peter  saith  not  that  Simon  was  a  bad  man,  but 
that  this  particular  thing  was  wicked ;  why  was  it  so  in 
him,  and  not  in  them  ?  " 

"Because,"  replied  Ammonius,  "it  is  manifest  from 
the  whole  record  that  Simon  desired  to  purchase  this  power 
for  himself,  and  to  use  it  for  his  own  purposes." 

"Certainly  so,"  persisted  Am-nem-hat,  "but  in  what 
respect  was  it  sacrilegious  for  him  to  desire  to  use  the 
power  for  his  own  purposes,  any  more  than  it  would 
have  been  to  use  his  brain,  or  his  hand,  for  his  own 
advancement ;  or  his  learning,  or  skill,  for  the  acquisi 
tion  and  cultivation  of  which  he  had,  perhaps,  expended 
money  ?  " 

"The  answer   to  thy  question,"  replied  Ammonius, 


"FOR  THE  WORK'S  SAKE."  135 

"involves  some  consideration  of  the  very  genius  of  Chris 
tianity  as  a  system  of  divine  truth.  If,  as  thou  seemest 
to  suppose,  the  religion  of  our  Lord  had  been  only  a 
system  of  spiritual  truth,  it  might  be  difficult  to  deny 
that  the  apostles  were  selfish,  and  that  Simon  was  very 
badly  treated.  But  this  is  not  at  all  true.  Thou  know- 
est  that  the  legislation  of  Moses  was  for  the  Israelites 
only;  that  of  Egypt  for  the  land  and  people  of  Kem 
only ;  that  of  other  lands  and  ages  for  certain  peoples 
only.  But  thou  canst  not  have  read  the  scriptures  so 
carefully  without  learning  the  fact  that  Jesus  died  for 
all  men,  and  that  his  truth  is  designed  for  all  mankind. 
Thou  seest,  therefore,  that,  if  Simon  Magus  could  have 
obtained  this  power  to  exercise  it  for  his  own  pur 
poses,  he  would  have  made  it  the  agency  by  which  to 
gain  limitless  authority  and  wealth  unto  himself,  and 
oppress  the  poor.  Thou  seest  also  that,  if  any  nation 
or  government  could  exercise  thaumaturgical  powers,  that 
nation  or  government  would  soon  become  the  ruler  and 
the  tyrant  of  the  world.  Thou  seest  that,  if  any  church 
that  is  in  any  way  connected  with,  or  bound  unto,  an 
earthly  government,  could  exercise  this  power,  ecclesiasti- 
cism  would  quickly  make  mankind  its  slaves  :  for  manifest 
ly  no  people  could  long  resist  a  government  that  had  thau 
maturgical  power  wherewith  to  enforce  obedience  to  its 
laws.  Thou  seest  also  that  if  the  faith  that  is  effective  for 
miracles  could  be  exercised  for  any  purposes  except  the  edi 
fication  of  the  Church  and  the  good  of  all  men,  the  faith 
itself  might  have  become  a  nameless  and  unappealable  ty 
ranny.  Nay,  if  it  were  ever  possible  to  exercise  such  power 


136  ARIUS   THE   LIBYAN. 

except  under  such  conditions  as  necessarily  and  absolutely 
to  preclude  the  use  of  it  for  any  private  purposes,  thou 
seest  that  sooner  or  later,  under  the  influence  of  inborn 
selfishness,  the  thaumaturgists  would  have  made  war  upon 
each  other,  and,  in  place  of  seeing  nations  contending 
with  sword,  and  bow,  and  spear,  we  would  have  seen 
them  hurling  against  each  other  all  of  the  destructive 
forces  of  nature,  and  only  chaos  and  utter  ruin  could 
have  ended  the  superhuman  strife.  It  was  therefore 
ordained  that  the  thaumaturgic  faith  can  not  be  exer 
cised  except  under  conditions  which  necessarily  exclude 
the  use  of  it  for  private  purposes,  and  insure  its  exercise 
for  the  good  of  the  common  Church  only." 

"  Canst  thou  specify  by  what  means  this  restricted  use 
of  the  power  hath  been  enforced  ?  For  it  secmeth  to 
me  that,  if  it  exists,  it  must  be  beyond  control." 

"  In  order  to  exclude  all  worldly  ambitions  and  selfish' 
ness  from  the  kingdom  which  he  established  in  the  world, 
our  Lord  ordained  that  his  Church  should  be  a  community 
in  which  all  men  are  free  and  equal — brethren  only.  Hence 
he  ordained,  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  kingdom,  that 
all  private  rights  of  property  (including  estates,  rank, 
offices,  prerogatives)  should  be  forever  abolished  in  his 
Church,  and  that  Christians  should  hold  them  all  in  com 
mon.  Hence,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  an  absolute 
democracy,  social  and  political,  based  upon  faith  in  Christ, 
and  community  of  rights  and  property  among  all  who  be 
lieve.  Of  this  community  the  apostles  themselves  were  the 
divinely  appointed  type.  They  used  thaumaturgy  for  the 
common  good  only,  and  not  for  personal  aggrandizement 


"FOR   THE   WORK'S  SAKE."  137 

The  common  treasure  was  put  into  a  bag,  and,  as  if  to 
show  the  divine  scorn  of  wealth  and  of  all  human  dis 
tinctions  that  grow  out  of  it,  the  bag  was  intrusted  to 
Judas,  the  only  base  one  of  the  twelve.  It  was  easier 
for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for 
a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  because 
the  law  of  that  kingdom  imperatively  required  the  con 
secration  of  all  that  he  had  to  the  common  good.  But, 
under  the  power  of  a  living  faith,  many  complied  with 
this  law,  and  the  Church  prospered.  Thus  did  the  bish 
ops  that  were  ordained  by  the  apostles,  as  Linus  at  Rome, 
Polycarp  at  Smyrna,  Evodius  at  Antioch,  and  others  also. 
Thus  did  Paulinus,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  and  others.  Such 
has  been  the  law  and  practice  of  the  common  Church 
even  unto  this  day.  For  the  primary  law  of  the  king 
dom  of  heaven  demandeth  the  consecration  of  all  prop 
erty,  and  the  abdication  of  all  worldly  honors,  offices, 
and  authority.  And  Simon  Magus  desired  not  part  or 
lot  in  this  kingdom,  but  his  own  advantage  only.  And 
thou  must  perceive  that  thaumaturgical  power  exercised 
by  such  a  church  must  necessarily  be  for  the  common 
good  of  all,  and  not  for  any  personal,  political,  or  sec 
tarian  purposes ;  and  the  faith  that  worketh  wonders 
must  therefore  be  impossible  to  any  human  association 
except  to  the  church  organized  upon  the  foundation 
which  Jesus  himself  laid,  even  the  communion  of  the 
holy ;  for  the  liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality,  which 
constitute  the  socialism  and  politics  of  the  kingdom,  can 
not  exist  upon  any  other  foundation.  And,  of  course, 
thaumaturgic  power  will  vanish  even  out  of  the  Church 


138  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

if  the  day  shall  ever  come  in  which  those  who  believe 
shall  abandon  the  communal  organization  of  the  king 
dom  of  heaven,  and  establish  human  statutes  as  the  law 
thereof." 

"I  think,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "that  thy  words  remove 
many  of  the  difficulties  which  have  beset  my  study  of  thy 
sacred  books.  For  I  now  perceive  that  the  parables  of 
Jesus — a  species  of  literary  composition  unknown,  per 
haps  impossible,  to  other  men  —  which  I  supposed  to 
refer  to  some  spiritual,  mystical  doctrines,  were  in  fact 
spoken  concerning  his  Church,  or  kingdom,  in  this 
world." 

"Assuredly  so,"  replied  Ammonius.  "And  thou  hast 
done  well  to  characterize  the  parable  as  'a,  species  of  lit 
erary  composition  unknown  and  impossible  to  other  men ' ; 
for  no  other  man  hath  written  a  parable,  nor  do  I  suppose 
that  any  man  ever  will  do  so.  For  he  spake  as  never  man 
spake  :  he  spake  in  parables ;  without  a  parable  he  spake 
not.  The  history,  the  poem,  the  fable,  the  allegory,  may 
be  used  by  other  teachers  also  ;  but  the  parable  is  the  lan 
guage  of  Jesus  alone ;  and  no  man  can  handle  it  but  him 
self." 

"I  can  now  understand  that  strange  parable  of  'the 
unjust  steward,'"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "although,  when  I 
first  read  the  words,  *  I  say  unto  you,  make  to  yourselves 
friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when 
ye  fail  they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations,' 
I  did  even  suppose  that  Jesus  represented  eternal  life  to 
be  a  vendible  thing,  and  that  his  religion,  like  every  other, 
assured  the  rich  that  they  could  purchase  salvation  with 


"FOR  THE    WORK'S  SAKE."  139 

money— although  this  seemed  to  be  antagonistic  to  the 
general  current  of  his  teachings." 

" Verily,"  replied  Ammonius,  "the  words  of  Jesus 
would  convey  no  other  meaning,  if,  indeed,  the  funda 
mental  law  of  the  Church  had  not  excluded  therefrom  all 
the  private  wealth,  honors,  and  authority  after  which  the 
Gentiles  seek.  But,  if  thou  wilt  consider  that  the  unjust 
steward  is  any  believer  that  useth  his  means,  pecuniary, 
intellectual,  physical,  for  his  own  aggrandizement,  and 
not  for  the  common  good  ;  that  the  Lord  of  that  stew 
ard  is  Jesus  ;  that  unrighteous  mammon  is  wealth  held  by 
private  ownership,  and  that  the  true  riches  is  wealth  held 
by  common  title  for  the  good  of  all — thou  canst  then  un 
derstand  how,  even  upon  ceasing  to  be  steward  (the  end  of 
life),  one  may  make  amends  for  past  selfishness  and  mam 
mon-worship,  by  giving  up  his  property  to  the  common 
Church.  Thou  canst  understand  how  it  is  just  that  those 
who  come  in  even  at  the  eleventh  hour  to  work  in  his  vine 
yard  shall  have  an  equal  reward  with  those  who  entered 
early  and  bore  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day.  Thou  wilt 
see  that  it  is  true  that  those  who  gave  up  houses  and  lands 
for  his  sake  and  the  gospel's  reaped  manifold  more  '  now 
in  this  present  life '  by  gaining  a  communal  title  in  the 
property  of  all  other  believers — an  increase  which  our  Lord 
expressly  promises  as  to  all  the  interests  and  relationships 
of  life,  except  as  to  the  wife  ;  for,  while,  if  one  leave 
houses,  lands,  father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  or  children, 
for  the  gospel's  sake,  the  severed  interests  and  relationships 
are  replaced  a  hundred-fold  by  his  admission  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  monogamic  marriage  was  and  is  the 


140  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

law  of  the  Church.  And  thou  canst  thus  give  a  practical 
and  beautiful  meaning  to  all  that  our  Lord  hath  said  and 
done ;  thou  wilt  see  that  the  social  and  political  system 
of  the  gospel  is  the  only  kingdom  that  can  ever  banish 
crime,  hatred,  and  selfishness  out  of  human  life,  and  so 
regenerate  the  world  ;  thou  wilt  see  that  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  persecuted  our  Lord  because  his  kingdom  ex 
cluded  war,  slavery,  private-property  rights,  estates,  rank, 
offices,  prerogatives — of  all  which  things  they  were  'cov 
etous  ' — just  as  the  Romans  and  all  other  established  gov 
ernments  persecute  the  Christians,  even  unto  this  day,  for 
the  same  reasons.  For  Christ  desireth  the  brotherhood  of 
men  ;  the  liberty  and  equality  of  men  ;  and  that  the  aver 
age  talents,  energy,  and  prosperity  of  all  may  insure  the 
common  weal ;  and  not  that  some  shall  be  emperors,  lords, 
and  masters,  whereby  it  cometh  to  pass  that  many  must  be 
slaves  ;  not  that  some  be  inordinately  rich,  and  others  dis 
tressfully  poor." 

"I  will  read  the  gospels  and  the  Acts  again  in  the 
light  of  thine  instructions,"  said  Am-nem-hat.  "  But, 
verily,  many  passages  thereof  already  come  crowding  into 
my  mind  that  bear  new  and  potent  meanings ;  for  I  per 
ceive  clearly  enough  that  Christianity  is  not  only  a  system 
of  spiritual  truth,  but  also  of  social  and  political  truth, 
that  is  founded  upon  the  faith,  and  from  that  basis  as- 
saulteth  selfishness  in  its  strong  citadel  of  private  rights 
by  elevating  the  common  good  into  a  higher  thing  than 
private  aggrandizement,  and  separating  the  people  of  his 
kingdom  from  all  personal  honors,  prerogatives,  and 
wealth,  after  which  the  Gentiles  seek." 


"FOR  THE  WORK'S   SAKE."  141 

"Thou  wilt  perceive  this  all  the  more  clearly,"  said 
Ammonius,  "if  thou  wilt  reread  the  gospels  with  this 
thought  in  thy  mind  ;  for-  thou  wilt  at  once  perceive  that 
many  passages,  which  in  any  other  view  would  seem 
strongly  tainted  with  fanaticism,  or  rhapsody,  or  dema- 
goguery,  are  precisely  the  things  which  Jesus  ought  to 
have  said  if  his  kingdom  was,  indeed,  a  social  and  political 
democracy  founded  upon  faith  and  community  of  rights 
and  property.  For  the  Jews,  who  supposed  that  our  Lord 
would  overturn  the  Roman  authority  and  establish  a  great 
Israelitish  nation  instead  thereof,  were  not  any  more  in 
error  than  are  those  who  falsely  suppose  that  he  would  es 
tablish  no  kingdom  at  all,  and  that  he  taught  only  spiritual 
truth,  as  do  the  Therapeutae." 

"  I  am  familiar  with  the  work  of  Philo  '  On  a  Contem 
plative  Life,  or  the  Devout,'  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "  in 
which  he  giveth  a  full  and  succinct  account  of  the  Thera- 
peutae  ;  but,  indeed,  I  had  supposed  that  he  therein  in 
tended  to  describe  the  first  heralds  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
practices  handed  down  from  the  apostles." 

"  Beyond  doubt  the  Therapeutae  were  Christians,"  con 
tinued  Ammonius,  "but  they  separated  themselves  from 
the  apostolical  churches  in  order  to  lead  a  more  devout 
life,  and  they  gradually  exalted  all  their  conceptions  of 
spiritual  truth  until  they  began  to  despise  all  temporal 
surroundings ;  and  in  this  they  departed  from  the  teach 
ing  of  our  Lord  :  for  there  is  no  teacher  of  men  more  free 
from  asceticism  or  stoicism  than  is  Jesus.  He  was  ever 
busied  about  and  interested  in  the  common,  every-day 

life  of  common  men  ;  he  was  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
10 


142  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

our  infirmity  in  all  things  ;  sympathized  in  all  the  joys 
and  sorrows  of  those  about  him,  their  trials  and  triumphs, 
seeking  to  lead  them,  not  out  of  the  world,  but  into  a 
way  of  life  wherein  every  pure  and  wholesome  feeling,  af 
fection,  and  faculty  of  the  human  heart  might  find  full  de 
velopment,  exercise,  and  satisfaction.  The  vast  difference, 
indeed,  between  Jesus  and  the  philosophers  subsists  in  the 
fact  that,  while  they  were  ever  painfully  seeking  for  rules 
and  actions  by  which  the  select  and  favored  few  might  at 
tain  a  perfect  human  life,  he  ordained  a  simple,  perfect 
system  by  which  to  bring  the  higher,  purer  life  within  the 
reach  of  all  men,  especially  the  poor." 

In  such  conversations  the  time  passed  quickly  ;  and  it 
was  strange  to  note  with  what  deep  interest  the  sorrowful 
Hatasa,  and  also  Theckla  and  Arius,  listened  to  every 
word,  and  strove  to  catch  the  full  signification  of  every 
phrase  ;  while  Arete  heard  it  patiently,  as  one  might  listen 
to  an  oft-told  but  still  pleasant  story,  and  old  Thopt,  as  if 
she  knew  little  and  cared  less  about  the  whole  matter, 
being  satisfied  that  whatever  Ammonius  and  his  wife 
might  do  must  be  right  and  true. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   ONE  THING   NEEDFUL. 

ON  the  same  day  began  Arms  to  teach  Theckla  letters ; 
for,  although  the  girl  had  been  remarkably  well  instructed 
for  an  Egyptian  maiden,  all  of  her  tuition  had  been  oral. 
But,  in  accordance  with  her  strong  wish  to  learn  how  to 
read  and  write,  the  boy  began  at  once  with  the  three  al 
phabets,  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  in  a  single  day 
she  learned  all  of  the  letters,  and  the  relative  power  of 
each,  and  in  a  very  short  time  she  could  make  all  of  the 
characters  with  a  sharp  point  of  Tceil  upon  a  leaf  of  papy 
rus.  Then,  as  leisure  served,  he  would  take  a  single  word, 
as,  for  example,  "  spirit,"  and  would  pronounce  and  spell 
it  in  the  three  languages  (nishema,  pneuma,  animus),  and 
she  would  repeat  the  three  names  for  the  same  thing  after 
him,  and  spell  them,  and  write  them  down,  over  and  over 
again,  until  she  had  become  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  letters,  the  sound,  and  the  form  of  the  written  word. 
The  acquisition  of  a  few  words  every  day  soon  gave  her 
command  of  a  considerable  vocabulary  in  each  tongue,  and 
she  rapidly  learned  to  associate  the  words  with  all  familiar 
objects,  and  to  call  them  by  the  right  name  in  either 
tongue.  Then  he  would  select  some  short  passage,  gener- 


144  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

erally  from  the  sacred  writings,  and  during  the  day  she 
would  write  it  over  and  over  again,  in  each  of  the  lan 
guages,  while  he  was  absent  upon  the  various  duties  which 
pertained  to  his  part  of  the  farm-labor.  The  girl  was  con 
tinually  learning  ;  and  it  was  pleasant  to  see  how  soon  she 
began,  of  her  own  accord,  to  select  and  translate  into  the 
different  tongues  any  passage  which  pleased  her.  This 
process  of  education  continued,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
during  the  years  which  she  spent  at  Baucalis,  and  finally 
Theckla  became  very  familiar  with  the  three  languages  in 
which  the  scriptures  were  then  written. 

On  the  next  evening  after  that  described  in  the  last 
chapter,  all  the  dwellers  at  the  cottage  assembled  again  in 
Hatasa's  room,  by  her  request,  to  hold  the  usual  evening 
service ;  for  the  lady  had  seldom  quitted  her  bed,  and  she 
remained  deplorably  weak,  suffering  with  continual  pain 
in  her  lungs,  the  result,  perhaps,  of  her  great  exposure 
during  the  storm,  and  of  the  terrible  depression  of  spirits 
that  succeeded  it.  All  through  the  pagan  world,  the  only 
known  refuge  from  hopeless  sorrow  was  suicide,  and  the 
idea  of  self-destruction  was  ever  present  to  her.  Perhaps 
her  maternal  affection  for  Theckla  alone  deterred  her  from 
putting  an  end  to  her  life ;  for  it  was  not  regarded  by  the 
heathen  as  cowardly,  criminal,  or  even  immoral,  to  seek 
that  refuge  from  misfortune.  Cato  did  it ;  Seneca  ap 
proved  of  it ;  Epictetus,  Aurelius,  and  all  the  great  lights 
of  pagan  antiquity  regarded  self-immolation  as  a  matter  of 
choice,  and  often  as  an  act  of  wisdom.  But,  from  the  mo 
ment  in  which  Hatasa  had  been  informed  that  the  kind 
friends  who  surrounded  her  were  Christians,  she  felt  a 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  145 

desire  to  know  more  of  them,  and  of  their  peculiar  reli 
gion,  strong  enough  to  give  her  a  new  interest  in  life  ;  and 
she  had  requested  Ammonius  to  have  the  service  in  her 
room,  and  told  him  that,  although  she  was  too  weak  to  take 
any  part  in  their  conversation  about  Christianity,  she  de 
sired  to  hear  himself  and  Am-nem-hat  discuss  any  topic 
pertaining  thereto  in  which  they  were  interested.  So, 
after  the  usual  exercises  of  reading  and  prayer,  the  whole 
family  remained  together.  The  ancient  remarked  to  Am 
monius  that  during  the  day  he  had  pondered  much  upon 
the  things  spoken  of  in  their  former  conversation,  and  sug 
gested,  as  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  acceptance  of  Chris 
tianity,  something  like  the  following :  "I  can  understand 
how  a  kind  and  merciful  God  might  lay  down  certain  rules 
of  action,  and  require  obedience  to  his  laws,  under  what 
ever  penalties  he  might  choose  to  impose  ;  but  it  seemeth 
to  me  that  to  require  one  to  believe,  as  the  sole  condition 
of  justification,  is  arbitrary  and  unjust.  Suppose  that  one 
hath  some  natural  bent  of  mind,  or  hath  been  reared  and 
educated  in  some  such  way  that  it  is  hard,  perhaps  impos 
sible,  for  him  to  believe  ;  yet  thy  books  say  :  '  Believe  and 
live  ;  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already.'  Is  not 
this  an  arbitrary  demand  for  faith  ;  and  doth  it  not  do  vio 
lence  to  that  very  autonomy  of  the  will  which  thou  sayest 
Jesus  himself  always  respected  and  venerated  ?  " 

"  Thou  dost  somewhat  mistake  the  matter,"  said  Am 
monius.  "  The  Lord  does  not  demand  our  faith ;  he 
simply  stateth  an  actual  fact,  which  is,  that  the  believer  is 
justified  by  faith,  and  that  he  who  does  not  believe  is  con- 
lemned  already." 


146  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  I  hardly  understand  what  thou  sayest :  '  he  simply 
stateth  an  actual  fact. ' " 

"I  think  thou  wilt  find  that  there  is  no  arbitrary 
demand  in  it.  Our  Lord  gave  no  command  only  be 
cause  he  had  power  and  authority  to  do  so ;  but  he 
knew  what  was  in  man,  and  gave  only  such  commands 
as  his  divine  wisdom  perceived  to  be  necessary  for  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  As  to  the  necessity  of  faith  upon 
which  he  insists,  the  case  is  thus  :  All  men  upon  earth 
are  under  the  conviction  of  sin,  and  all  alike  are  forever 
seeking  for  some  escape  from  the  bonds  of  this  convic 
tion.  Thou  wilt  perceive  that  this  conviction  hath  no 
reference  to  any  specific,  sinful  act ;  for,  perhaps,  the 
best  and  purest  men  have  always  been  those  who  felt  it 
most  keenly.  It  is  a  consciousness  of  alienation  between 
the  human  and  the  divine.  It  is  a  natural,  intuitive 
perception,  in  the  heart  of  every  man,  that  he  is  not  as 
good  as  he  ought  to  be,  less  perfect  than  he  might  be. 
The  universal  desire  to  get  rid  of  this  conviction  of  sin 
hath  filled  the  world  with  false  and  ineffectual  religions 
from  the  very  dawn  of  time ;  for  all  men,  in  every  age 
and  clime,  have  sought  for  some  form  of  penance  or 
of  sacrifice,  some  means  in  faith  or  work,  by  which  to 
make  atonement  and  secure  reconciliation,  and  thereby 
shake  off  this  conviction  of  sin.  Hast  thou  ever  heard 
of  any  kindred,  tribe,  or  tongue  (or  even  of  any  indi 
vidual),  that  professed  to  be  perfect,  sinless,  needing  no 
sacrifice,  no  atonement  for  sin — that  is,  for  a  conscious 
ly  sinful  condition  independent  of  all  specific  acts  of 
transgression  ?  " 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  147 

"Nay,"  answered  Am-nem-hat;  "for  thou  art  clear 
ly  right  in  that.  All  men  do  by  nature  bewail  their 
sinful  state.  Humanity  standeth  forever  like  the  lepers 
in  Israel,  with  uplifted  hand,  crying  aloud  to  heaven 
and  earth,  '  Unclean  !  unclean  ! '  It  is  a  conviction  upon 
which  philosophy  hath  no  power.  It  cometh  some  time 
into  every  human  heart,  resistless  as  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes,  spontaneous  as  the  flowing  of  the  Nile — 
a  natural  thing,  which  a  man  can  no  more  control  than 
he  can  reach  forth  his  puny  hand  and  unloose  the  bands 
of  Orion,  or  bind  the  sweet  influence  of  Pleiades,  or 
guide  Arcturus  and  his  suns.  All  literature,  all  monu 
ments,  all  ages,  and  all  men,  testify  unto  this  terrible 
truth." 

"Now  the  work  of  Jesus,"  said  Ammonius,  "was 
not  to  burden  this  sick  and  sorrowful  nature  with  any 
arbitrary  law  of  faith,  but  was  to  provide  a  way  by 
which  this  universal  conviction  of  sin  might  be  atoned 
for  —  a  perfect  righteousness  and  sacrifice  available  by 
faith  for  our  justification ;  to  wit,  that  God  was  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself.  And  faith  is 
made  the  condition,  because  no  other  condition  could  be 
available  for  all  men  alike,  whether  great  or  small,  rich 
or  poor,  learned  or  ignorant ;  and  Jesus  died  for  all ! 
Thou  must  see  that  this  faith,  instead  of  being,  as  thou 
didst  suppose,  an  arbitrary  condition  or  command,  is 
simply  the  enabling  act,  instituted  by  divine  wisdom  and 
compassion,  by  means  whereof  we  may  be  able  to  attain 
unto  reconciliation  with  God.  And  without  this  faith 
we  could  never  be  justified  by  holy  life  and  works  alone, 


148  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

because  it  is  a  law  of  our  nature  that,  just  as  we  become 
better  and  purer  beings,  our  conception  of  the  degree  of 
fitness  required  of  us  necessarily  becomes  higher,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  get  any  nearer  to  it ;  so  that 
without  faith  the  best  men  are  as  much  under  conviction 
of  sin  as  the  worst ;  so  that  without  faith  it  is  impossi 
ble  for  us  to  be  consciously  justified,  because  our  nature 
requires  a  perfect  righteousness ;  and  this  perfect  right 
eousness  and  sacrifice  must  be  human,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  trust  its  love  and  willingness  to  aid  us,  and  must 
be  divine,  that  we  may  have  faith  in  its  power  to  save. 
Hast  thou  ever  heard  of  any  name  given  under  heaven, 
or  among  men,  which  supplies  these  natural  and  neces 
sary  conditions  for  our  conscious  justification  and  recon- 
ciliation  with  God,  and  with  our  own  hearts  also,  ex 
cept  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  If  thou  hast,  please 
utter  it." 

"Verily,"  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "there  is  none. 
No  religion  of  which  I  have  heard  professeth  to  know 
any." 

The  old  man  seemed  lost  in  profoundest  meditation, 
and  there  was  silence  in  the  room,  until  Theckla  said : 
"Father  Am-nem-hat,  do  thou  bid  Arius  repeat  what 
things  he  said  to  me  of  this  matter  of  faith  when  he 
was  teaching  the  alphabets  to  me  this  morning.  I  think 
it  was  much  plainer  than  thy  learned  discoursing  with 
Ammonius. " 

"Yea,"    said  Am-nem-hat,    "I  beg  that  Arius  will 
do  so,  for  I  much  desire  to  hear  thereof." 

The  boy  blushed  vividly  at  being  so  called  upon  in 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  149 

the  presence  of  his  elders,  but,  at  a  sign  from  his  father, 
he  stood  up  before  them,  saying  :  "I  did  not  suppose 
the  talk  of  persons  so  young  could  interest  those  who 
are  so  much  older  and  wiser,  but,  as  ye  desire  to  hear 
it,  I  can  almost  repeat  it.  As  Theckla  and  I  were  run 
ning  over  the  alphabets,  in  order  to  get  the  sound  of 
the  letters  and  the  form  of  the  characters,  she  came  upon 
the  letter  '  A '  a  second  time,  and  she  cried  out :  '  Oh, 
I  know  that  one  ;  it  is  Latin  A,  Greek  Alpha,  Hebrew 
Aleph. '  And  I  said  unto  her,  '  Theckla,  how  knowest 
thou  that  the  characters  stand  for  these  sounds  ? '  and 
she  answered,  '  Thou  didst  tell  me  so,  and  I  did  be 
lieve  thee,  boy,  and  that  is  how  I  know  it.'  Then  said 
I :  '  Theckla,  thou  learnest  the  alphabet  by  faith  only. 
If  thou  wert  naturally  constituted  so  that  thou  couldst 
not  believe,  thou  couldst  never  learn  anything  not  tan 
gible  to  thy  senses.  If  thou  wert  by  nature  even  indif 
ferent  between  faith  and  non-faith,  thy  progress  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  would  be  slow  and  painful. 
Thou  shouldst  therefore  learn,  from  the  learning  of  these 
alphabets,  that  faith  is  the  first,  most  inevitable  act  of 
intelligence.  Thou  shouldst  learn  that  belief  precedes 
knowledge  always,  that  Faith  is  the  elder  sister  and  lead- 
eth  Knowledge  by  the  hand,  and  that  without  antece 
dent  faith  it  is  impossible  to  learn  and  to  know  any 
thing  except  what  is  palpable  to  the  senses  ;  just  as  it 
would  be  impossible  for  thee  to  learn  these  alphabets 
without  faith.'  And  thereupon  Theckla  did  pinch  mine 
ear,  and  laugh  at  me,  saying,  '  That  all  seemeth  to  be 
true  and  plain  enough,  thou  odd  boy,  but  why  art  thou 


150  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

preaching  at  me  now  ? '  And  I  did  answer :  *  Because, 
thou  dear  sister,  some  time  thy  faith  may  be  demanded 
for  another  alphabet  than  this,  even  the  alphabet  of  spir 
itual  life ;  and,  when  that  day  shall  come,  I  would  have 
thee  remember  that  just  as  all  human  knowledge  is 
builded  upon  the  basis  of  faith  only,  so  it  should  not 
seem  a  hard  thing  unto  thee  that  God  hath  fashioned 
thy  nature  so  that  thou  must  be  incapable  of  learning 
even  the  alphabet  of  everlasting  life  except  upon  the 
very  same  condition  of  faith  only.  Faith  precedeth  all 
knowledge ;  believe  and  obey,  and  finally  thou  shalt 
know.'  I  think  this  was  about  what  was  spoken  be 
tween  us  concerning  faith." 

"And  it  is  most  wise,  beautiful,  and  instructive  talk," 
said  Am-nem-hat,  "and  serve th  to  complete  the  power 
ful  utterances  of  thy  father  upon  the  same  lofty  and  in 
teresting  subject.  I  do  thank  thee  for  repeating  it." 

Then  spake  Hatasa,  saying  to  Ammonius,  "Suppose 
that  one  hath  died  without  having  known  the  truth  con 
cerning  Jesus,  and  without  having  exercised  this  faith, 
is  there  no  hope  for  such  a  one  ? " 

The  trembling  voice  in  which  she  spoke,  and  the  look 
of  timid,  doubtful  entreaty  which  accompanied  these 
words,  touched  every  heart,  and  made  them  all  feel  that 
by  "such  a  one"  the  poor  lady  meant  her  young  and 
gallant  husband  Amosis,  whose  memory  seemed  ever  in 
her  heart. 

Ammonius  answered :  "I  do  not  know  whether  I 
could  make  thee  understand  fully  the  views  which  we 
Christians  entertain  about  such  a  case  as  thou  hast  sug- 


THE   ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  151 

gested,  but  we  believe  that  there  is  hope  for  such  a 
man.  The  great  apostle  Paul  was  Saul  of  Tarsus,  and 
for  a  long  time  he  did  persecute  the  Christians  because 
they  were  Christians,  yet  he  declareth  himself  that  he 
acted  in  all  good  conscience  before  God,  believing  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  do  so,  and  he  afterward  became  the 
great  apostle  and  a  glorious  martyr.  I  doubt  not  that 
there  are  among  those  who  now  persecute  the  Christians 
some  good  and  just  men,  that  would  follow  Jesus  unto 
death  if  they  could  know  him  as  he  is.  The  convic 
tion  of  sin,  we  know,  hath  no  reference  to  any  specific 
transgression,  nor  hath  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  Whether 
an  act  be  a  sin  or  not  dependeth  largely  upon  the  intent 
with  which  it  is  done.  Now,  when  the  heathen,  who 
know  not  Jesus  nor  his  divine  truth,  do  yet  live  just  and 
righteous  lives  according  to  the  best  light  and  knowl 
edge  they  possess,  and  die  without  the  consolation  of  the 
faith,  the  benefit  of  the  atonement  accrueth  to  them  in 
some  way,  we  know  not  precisely  how  far,  nor  to  what 
effect ;  to  all  such,  indeed,  and  especially  to  such  as  have 
some  living  Christian  relative  or  friend  that  taketh  upon 
himself  the  rite  of  baptism  for  the  dead  ;  for,  if  they  have 
not  the  law,  they  are  not  judged  by  the  law,  but  by  their 
works  and  righteousness  under  the  law  which  they  have." 

"  How  is  that  ?  "  said  Hatasa,  with  breathless  interest. 
"Thou  sayest  a  living  Christian  maybe  baptized  for  the 
dead?" 

"Assuredly,"  answered  Ammonius.  "The  apostles 
so  taught,  and  the  Church  hath  always  so  practiced.  If 
any  Christian  hath  a  relative  that  died  without  knowl- 


152  ARIUS   THE   LIBYAN. 

edge  of  Jesus,  and  such  Christian  doth  believe  that  the 
deceased  was  a  just  and  righteous  person  according  to 
the  measure  of  light  given  unto  him,  and  was  such  that 
he  would  have  followed  our  Lord  if  he  had  known  suffi 
ciently  of  him,  such  Christian  may  receive  baptism  for 
the  deceased,  and  the  dead  shall  reap  benefit  of  this  vi 
carious  faith  and  obedience,  how  and  to  what  extent 
hath  never  been  clearly  revealed  unto  us." 

"There  is  hope  in  that!"  cried  Hatasa.  "There  is 
consolation  in  that.  Thy  Lord  must  have  been  full  of 
human  love  and  pity  to  make  provision  not  only  for  his 
friends,  but  for  those  good  and  just  men,  also,  who  have 
ignorantly  been  his  enemies." 

"Yea,  verily,"  answered  Ammonius.  "He  loveth  all 
men ;  his  mercy  endureth  forever ;  his  loving-kindness 
is  stronger  than  height,  or  depth,  or  life,  or  death,  or 
any  other  creature,  as  thou  mayest  assuredly  know  for 
thyself  if  thou  wilt  believe  on  him." 

Then  Am-nem-hat  said  :  "  There  is  much  in  this  re 
ligion  that  taketh  fast  hold  upon  both  the  heart  and  the 
mind ;  for  it  verily  seemeth  that  Jesus  seeketh  not  to 
impose  a  system  upon  man  that  is  in  any  respect  exter 
nal  to  man,  but  rather  that  he  seeketh  to  show  unto 
man  such  spiritual  food  as  is  most  divinely  suitable  to 
satisfy  that  hunger  of  the  soul  wherefrom  the  whole 
world  suffereth  already ;  and  he  seemeth  to  propose 
nothing  as  matter  of  faith  which  was  not  already  a  con 
scious  want  and  need  of  nature  :  so  that  his  teachings 
ought  to  be  accepted  as  at  least  the  highest  utterance 
of  philosophy  if  even  not  as  divinely  true." 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  153 

"  Thy  profound  criticism  of  the  spirit  of  our  religion 
strike th  very  nearly  to  the  heart  of  the  whole  matter," 
said  Ammonius.  "For  the  world  yearned  after  God 
whom  it  knew  not,  and  Jesus  plainly  declareth  that  un 
known  God  whom  men  ignorantly  worship.  The  world 
groaned  and  sorrowed  under  the  blind  conviction  of  sin, 
and,  wherever  men  acquired  a  local  habitation  and  a  name 
on  earth,  there  they  had  their  holy  places  also  ;  and  in 
some  way — often  in  a  crude  and  ignorant  way,  often  in 
a  gross  and  sensual  way,  often  in  a  heathenish  and  cruel 
way — they  sought,  by  sacred  rites  of  penitence  and  sacri 
fice,  to  atone  for  their  wrong  deeds  done  ;  but  the  wrongs 
continually  repeated  themselves,  and  the  unavailing  re 
ligions  left  the  world's  heart  like  a  troubled  sea  that  can 
not  rest.  But  Jesus  saith  the  sin  for  which  ye  suffer  is 
not  a  wrong  thing  done  at  all ;  these  wicked  deeds  of 
yours  are  not  sin,  but  are  the  outcroppings  of  the  sin 
that  lieth  back  of  all  your  deeds.  Can  a  bitter  fountain 
send  forth  sweet  waters  ?  Doth  an  evil  tree  bear  good 
fruits  ?  Do  ye  gather  figs  from  thistles  ?  Cease  now 
your  world-old  and  unavailing  efforts  to  regenerate  the 
heart  by  the  vain  expiation  of  your  wicked  deeds.  Pu 
rify  the  fountain,  that  the  waters  thereof  may  be  sweet. 
Make  the  tree  good,  and  its  fruits  shall  be  good  also. 
For  sin  is  non-conformity  to  the  will  of  God,  and  your 
evil  deeds  are  only  the  evidences  of  your  enmity  against 
him.  So,  when  the  blind  yearnings  of  the  world's  heart 
after  peace  had  made  sacrifices,  not  only  of  every  beast 
and  creeping  thing  upon  the  earth,  but  of  men  also,  he 
saith:  'All  these  things  ye  do  in  vain,  for  your  righteous- 


154  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ness  must  exceed  that  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  or 
ye  shall  likewise  perish.  I  am  the  Light,  the  Truth, 
the  Way — the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world — a  perfect  righteousness  and  sacrifice  once  for 
all  offered  for  the  sin  of  men.  Believe  in  me,  and  ye 
shall  be  saved ;  all  other  sacrifices  are  in  vain.'  So  every 
yearning  want  of  the  heart  is  met  and  satisfied  in  Christ. 
All  other  religions  under  heaven  condemn  actions  which 
they  suppose  to  be  wicked,  and  prescribe  certain  forms 
of  expiation  for  such  as  they  suppose  to  be  expiable ;  but 
Jesus  proposes  to  pardon,  not  so  much  the  sinful  act 
as  the  sinner,  the  sinful  nature  out  of  which  the  act 
ariseth,  and  to  regenerate  this  nature  so  that  it  will  hate 
what  it  believes  to  be  wicked,  and  love  what  it  believes 
to  be  holy.  For  Christ  atoneth  for  all  sin,  and  the  act 
of  faith  is  to  personally  appropriate  the  benefit  thereof 
to  each  one  for  himself." 

"True,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "and  I  undertake  to  assert 
that  no  other  religion  in  the  world  hath  so  represented  sin 
to  be  want  of  conformity  to  the  will  of  God,  rather  than  an 
evil  deed  ;  and  in  this  whole  matter  of  sin  and  the  forgive 
ness  thereof,  thy  religion  differeth  from  paganism  more 
radically  than  even  in  the  doctrine  of  one  God  it  differeth 
from  polytheism." 

And  in  this  and  such  like  conversation  the  evening 
wore  away  until  bed-time  came,  and  they  separated  for 
the  night.  The  family  at  Baucalis  did  not  speak  or  think 
of  these  matters  as  of  mere  abstract  theories  of  truth,  or  of 
philosophy,  but  as  actual,  living  verities.  The  Christians 
felt  their  religion  to  be  the  only  real  life.  They  regarded 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.  155 

all  earthly  pursuits,  passions,  and  pleasures,  as  mere  inci 
dents  of  existence,  and  religion  as  the  one  controlling 
and  all-important  thing.  Their  pleasant  home  was  to 
them  a  merely  temporary  station  on  the  highway  where 
by  they  were  journeying  to  a  better  land ;  the  flesh  was 
only  a  tabernacle  which  the  spirit  must  soon  forsake ; 
all  that  pertained  to  it  was  for  a  brief  season  only ;  the 
real  life  was  only  begun  during  their  occupancy  of  this 
earthly  tenement ;  Christian  faith  was  to  them  the  one 
thing  real  and  permanent,  and  earthly  existence  was  of 
little  consequence  except  as  it  might  stand  related  to 
eternal  interests.  Hence  there  was  a  freshness,  a  vigor, 
a  sense  of  reality  and  earnestness,  in  their  way  of  think 
ing  and  speaking  of  such  things,  that  demonstrated  their 
religion  to  be  no  beautiful,  speculative  philosophy,  but 
a  hard,  experimental,  and  all-controlling  fact.  And  so 
every  night  during  that  week  the  dwellers  at  Baucalis 
assembled  in  Hatasa's  room,  and  passed  long  hours  in 
the  discussion  of  all  the  salient  points  of  Christianity  in 
a  friendly,  careful  way,  as  if,  indeed,  they  had  a  mutual 
interest  in  ascertaining  the  truth,  especially  concerning 
all  those  ideas  upon  which  the  antagonism  between  Chris 
tianity  and  paganism  most  plainly  appeared.  To  set  down 
ill  the  various  conversations  in  which  they  engaged  would 
ndeed  be  to  write  a  treatise  upon  primitive  Christianity,  a 
vork  in  which,  perhaps,  no  interest  would  be  felt  in  an  age 
n  which  that  system  no  longer  exists  upon  earth,  and  is 
tterly  unknown  to  all  except  a  few  self-poised,  fearless, 
npopular  antiquarians,  who  have  been  eccentric  and  in- 
ependent  enough  to  exhume  that  ancient  religion  from 


156  ARIUS   THE   LIBYAN. 

out  the  accumulated  debris  of  fifteen  centuries  of  eccle 
siastical  "progress"  which  flourisheth  over  its  ruins  even 
as  the  vine  ripens  and  the  roses  bloom  over  the  wreck 
of  buried  Pompeii.  Yet  we  can  not  resist  the  inclina 
tion  that  moveth  us  to  write  out  our  notes  of  one  other 
evening's  conversation  that  happened  between  this  Chris 
tian  family  and  their  pagan  guests. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  NET   EESULT  OF  LAW. 

ON  the  next  evening,  after  the  conclusion  of  their 
usual  daily  services,  the  ancient  Am-nem-hat  began  the 
conversation  which  occupied  their  attention  during  that 
meeting  by  saying  to  Ammonius  :  "  Thou  didst  observe 
that  -the  future  state  of  just  and  good  men  who  died 
without  any  sufficient  knowledge  of  Christianity  to  lead 
them  to  embrace  that  faith  'hath  never  been  clearly  re 
vealed  unto  us.'  Is  it  not  true  also  that  the  future  state 
of  all  men  hath  been  left  almost  entirely  unrevealed  ?  I 
ask  thee  this,  because  I  have  found  myself  altogether  un 
able,  from  my  readings  of  the  sacred  books,  to  locate 
heaven,  either  anywhere  in  this  world  or  in  any  other 
sun  or  star.  And  either  I  have  utterly  failed  to  compre 
hend  some  of  the  things  which  I  have  carefully  read,  or 
else  the  scriptures  leave  this  future  state  in  a  very  misty, 
uncertain,  indefinite  condition.  Wilt  thou  inform  me 
how  this  matter  may  really  stand  ? " 

"Thy  reading  is  in  no  respect  at  fault,"  replied  Am 
monius.  "Our  Lord  hath  left  the  future  life  altogether 
unrevealed,  not  only  in  respect  to  the  locality  thereof,  but 

also  in  every  other  respect.    Types  and  figures  are  used  in 
li 


158  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

reference  thereto,  whereby  we  know  that  it  shall  be  eternal 
and  blest ;  but,  beyond  this  general  assurance  of  exalted 
happiness  and  unfailing  duration,  we  are  not  informed. 
To  each  Christian  soul  it  will  undoubtedly  be  the  best 
that  is  possible  for  him :  the  place,  the  development, 
the  environments  thereof,  and  all  else  that  belongeth 
thereto,  are  unrevealed." 

"I  know  not  whether  it  would  have  been  more  pleas 
ing  to  have  some  definite  knowledge  of  that  future  life ; 
that  is,  I  can  not  tell  whether  the  system  of  religion  would 
or  would  not  appear  unto  me  to  have  been  more  perfect  if 
all  had  been  revealed  by  it,  or  whether  it  is  wiser  and  per 
haps  even  more  pleasing  to  have  left  it  thus  vague  and 
undefined,  with  a  general  assurance  of  its  beatitude,"  said 
Am-nem-hat,  "yet  I  could  wish  that  something  tangible 
and  satisfying  were  revealed  in  reference  thereto.  Why, 
thinkest  thou,  was  it  not  more  fully  revealed  ? " 

"I  know  not,"  answered  Ammonius,  "but  I  feel  cer 
tain  that  it  was  purposely  left  as  a  thing  to  be  held  by 
faith,  and  not  in  knowledge.  Either  it  may  have  been 
because  it  hath  not  yet  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to 
conceive  what  that  life  may  be,  so  that  human  speech 
could  not  convey  any  adequate  knowledge  thereof;  or, 
if  it  were  possible  to  do  so,  the  overpowering  glory  and 
splendor  thereof,  if  definitely  grasped  and  understood, 
and  already  realized,  might  render  us  impatient  of  this 
mundane  existence,  and  too  indifferent  to  all  the  duties 
and  obligations  thereof.  I  think,  indeed,  that  those  very 
Therapeutae,  of  whom  Philo  speaketh,  were  to  be  censured 
for  an  unwarranted  attempt  to  realize,  in  this  present 


THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW.  159 

world,  a  spiritual  life  which  our  Lord  expressly  reserved 
for  the  future ;  an  effort,  indeed,  necessarily  impossible 
to  succeed,  and  perhaps  injurious  both  to  these  anchorites 
and  to  other  men  also.  For  the  purpose  of  the  gospel  is 
not  only  to  justify  and  save  all  who  believe  and  obey  it, 
but  the  declared  purpose  of  our  Lord  is  to  regenerate  man 
kind  by  the  agency  of  his  own  kingdom ;  and  surely  it 
tendeth  not  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose  to 
have  Christians  withdraw  themselves  permanently  beyond 
the  reach  of  common  life  and  experience ;  so  that  it  is 
manifestly  an  error  to  suppose  that,  because  they  have 
the  assurance  of  a  superlatively  better  life  beyond,  Chris 
tians  should  for  that  reason  despise  the  life  that  now 
is.  And,  in  accordance  with  this  view,  thou  wilt  find 
that  the  Church  forbiddeth  any  man  to  go  out  of  the 
world  (by  suicide)  as  the  heathen  commonly  do ;  forbid 
deth  any  man  to  seek  for  martyrdom,  as  many  had  done ; 
and  forbiddeth  any  man  to  flee  from  that  place  in  which  he 
was  converted  into  the  mountains  and  the  deserts  :  because 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  must  exist  in  the  world — not  out 
of  it — for  the  regeneration  thereof." 

"  But  he  saith  himself,"  suggested  Am-nem-hat,  " '  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.' " 

"Verily,"  replied  Ammonius.  "And  his  kingdom  is 
not  '  of '  the  world,  but  is  '  in '  the  world.  Not  surely  a 
kingdom  founded  upon  the  social,  religious,  and  political 
laws  and  customs  of  the  world,  like  other  kingdoms  ;  but, 
not  the  less,  a  kingdom  for  men  living  in  the  world,  and 
founded  on  its  own  social,  religious,  and  political  econo 
mies.  And  this  temporal,  earthly  kingdom,  established 


160  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

by  our  Lord  in  the  world,  is  the  very  essence  of  the 
gospel,  the  most  important  part  of  the  truth  which  he 
revealed  to  men." 

"That  is  new  to  me,"  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "for 
I  had  supposed  that  the  religious  idea  chiefly  handleth 
the  affairs  of  man  with  reference  to  the  future  life,  and 
that  his  temporal  condition  is  the  affair  of  government, 
unto  which  he  is  kept  in  subjection  by  the  sense  of 
duty  and  obligation  which  religion  supplieth." 

"  And  thou  art  manifestly  in  the  right  as  to  all  govern 
ments  that  exist  or  ever  have  existed  among  men,  except 
only  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  How  many  governments 
have  existed  in  Egypt?" 

"I  know  not  that,"  answered  the  ancient.  "Our 
records  cover  thirty  full  dynasties  before  the  second  Per 
sian  invasion,  which  occurred  seven  centuries  ago,  but 
each  of  these  dynasties  represents  more  than  one  Pharaoh, 
and  several  of  them  a  great  many ;  for  government  is  not 
a  permanent  thing,  and  some  form  of  revolution  ever 
lieth  in  wait  for  it,  as  a  tiger  in  a  jungle  watcheth  a 
man  to  spring  upon  and  strangle  him." 

"And  how  many  governments  have  existed  among 
other  peoples  and  nations  during  the  thousands  of  years 
covered  by  the  records  of  thy  land  of  Kem  ? " 

"I  know  not  that,"  said  Am-nem-hat;  "they  are  un 
known  and  innumerable." 

"Therefore,"  answered  Ammonius,  "each  one  of  them 
must  have  contained,  in  its  very  constitution  and  na 
ture,  the  seeds  of  its  own  dissolution ;  and,  so  far  at 
least  in  human  history,  the  science  of  government  hath 


THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW.  161 

learned   no  secret   by  which  to  secure   permanency  for 
itself." 

"The  inference  thou  hast  drawn  seemeth  to  follow 
necessarily  and  undeniably  from  the  known  facts." 

"And  what  hath  been  the  net  result  of  the  science 
of  government  among  all  the  peoples  and  nations  of  whom 
thou  hast  ever  heard  ? " 

"  Misery ! " 

"  Yea ! — But  state  the  net  result  of  government  in 
political  or  in  philosophical  terms ! " 

*' State  it  for  thyself;  I  desire  to  learn  of  thee." 

"  Hath  not  the  net  result  of  human  government  every 
where,  in  all  climes  and  ages  and  among  all  men,  been 
only  to  produce,  or  develop,  a  ruling  class  at  the  top  of 
every  social  and  political  system,  unto  whom  all  the  bless 
ings  of  the  government  and  civilization  are  given  by  law  ; 
an  oppressed  or  enslaved  people  at  the  bottom,  upon  whose 
weary  shoulders  rest  all  of  the  burdens  and  the  waste 
of  life ;  and  between  these  two  extremes,  some  religious 
system  and  some  armed  force,  seeking  to  adjust  the  cor 
relative  legal  rights  and  duties  of  the  high  and  the  low, 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  class  that  ruleth  and  the 
class  that  is  ruled  over,  by  the  agency  of  religion,  so 
long  as  the  religious  sentiment  serveth  to  keep  the  people 
in  bondage,  and  by  sword  and  spear  when  superstition 
faileth  ?  Add  to  this  result  the  fact  that  women  are 
everywhere  slaves,  or  chattels,  legally  lower  and  more 
debased  than  their  husbands  and  fathers,  no  matter  what 
position  the  men  may  occupy ;  and  have  we  not  plainly 
stated,  in  this  terrible  formula,  the  net  result  of  the 


162  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

science  of  human  government  to  which  it  infallibly  lead- 
eth,  and  from  which  it  hath  never  escaped  ?  If  thy  large 
learning  hath  ever  taught  thee  the  name  and  location  of 
any  nation  or  people  of  whom  this  is  not  true,  wilt  thou 
now  declare  it  ?  " 

"I  can  not  name  such  a  government  or  people," 
answered  Am-nem-hat.  "For  history  is  but  a  dreary 
record  of  unceasing  strife — among  the  fortunate  for  pre 
cedence  and  power,  and  among  the  poor  for  existence ; 
and  during  the  struggle  it  hath  evermore  happened  that 
the  women  have  been  trampled  into  the  filth  and  mud. 
I  know  not  the  reason  thereof,  but  the  fact  is  fearfully 
true." 

"  Doth  it  then  seem  to  thee  that  to  have  ordained  somn 
system  by  which  this  net  result  of  the  science  of  govern  • 
ment  may  be  avoided ;  some  truth  by  which  war  and 
slavery  that  have  cursed  the  life  and  labor  of  every  peo 
ple  under  heaven,  may  be  abolished ;  some  social  and 
political  organization  by  which  the  false  and  cruel  dis 
tinctions  maintained  by  accidents  of  fortune,  birth,  rank, 
or  by  even  genius  and  extraordinary  abilities,  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  great  and  the  small,  the  feeble 
and  the  wise,  may  be  utterly  removed ;  and  by  which 
womanhood,  wifehood,  maternity,  shall  be  redeemed  from 
slavery  and  elevated  to  such  a  place  that  men  can  no  more 
degrade  them  without  consciously  degrading  themselves 
also ;  some  divine  and  human  law  of  brotherhood  among 
men  by  which  the  race  shall  attain  to  liberty,  equality, 
and  fraternity — dost  thou  think  that  to  devise  and  estab 
lish  such  a  system  is  a  work  worthy  of  a  God?" 


THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW.  163 

"Yea,  verily!  most  worthy  of  a  God;  perhaps  impos 
sible  even  unto  him." 

"This  very  system  hath  our  Lord  ordained;  it  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth ;  it  is  the  common  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  whereby  the  regeneration  of  mankind  must 
be  secured." 

There  was  a  long  silence  after  this,  during  which  all 
seemed  to  be  pondering  on  what  Ammonius  had  said, 
and  it  was  finally  broken  by  Arius,  who  spoke  as  follows  : 
"I  do  not  get  all  of  thy  meaning.  Why  is  it  true  that 
all  human  governments  of  necessity  result  in  the  slavery 
of  the  many  to  the  few,  and  in  their  own  ultimate  de 
struction  ?  Why  can  not  wise  and  good  men  organize 
some  form  of  government  that  may  secure  both  perma 
nency  for  itself  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people  also  ? " 

"Yea,  tell  us  that,"  said  Am-nem-hat,  "and  also  in 
form  us  by  what  means  Jesus  designeth  to  avoid  in  his 
kingdom  the  net  result  which  seemeth  necessarily  to  over 
take  all  human  governments  sooner  or  later  ? " 

"The  same  considerations,"  said  Ammonius,  "may 
furnish  an  answer  to  both  questions.  But  first  let  me 
ask  of  thy  great  learning,  Am-nem-hat,  whether  any  man 
hath  proposed,  or  even  conceived,  of  some  form  of  human 
government  which  hath  never  yet  been  tried  among  man 
kind?" 

"I  think  not,"  said  the  ancient.  "Both  Plato  and 
Aristotle  have  indulged  in  the  attempt  to  define  all  the 
possible  forms  that  government  might  assume ;  but,  even 
in  the  political  dream  which  Plato  calleth  'The  Repub 
lic,'  he  faileth  to  specify  any  form  or  machinery  of  gov- 


164  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ernment  which  hath  not  been  repeatedly  tried  and  found 
to  fail ;  only  the  results  he  dreams  of  are  imaginary ;  the 
government  he  devised  hath  been  vainly  experimented 
upon  by  others." 

"  The  Greek  philosopher  erred  in  his  delineation  of  an 
ideal  government  both  by  omitting  therefrom  the  power  of 
faith  as  the  controlling  principle  thereof,  and  by  denying 
the  sanctity  of  monogamic  marriage.  His  'Republic'  is, 
therefore,  nugatory,  for  liberty  can  not  exist  in  any  com 
munity  at  all  unless  it  exists  for  all  alike ;  and  polygamy 
denies  the  liberty  of  half  the  human  race  by  enslaving 
women.  But  thou  truly  sayest  that  every  possible  form 
of  government  hath  been  tried  among  men,  and  that  all 
of  them  alike  have  failed  to  secure  either  permanency 
for  themselves  or  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Thou  must 
see,  therefore,  that  the  universal  failure  of  government 
dependeth  not  upon  the  form  of  it,  nor  upon  the  age, 
or  clime,  or  nation  in  which  it  existeth  ;  nor  upon  the 
religion,  language,  laws,  nor  customs  of  the  people ;  for 
all  forms  of  it  have  failed  alike,  in  all  ages,  among  all 
peoples,  under  all  imaginable  religions,  languages,  cus 
toms,  and  laws.  Seemeth  this  conclusion  to  be  just  and 
true?" 

"Yea,"  answered  Am-nem-hat,  "I  can  see  no  escape 
therefrom  whatever." 

"Then  it  surely  followeth,"  said  Ammonius,  "that 
whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  this  universal  failure  of 
government,  it  existeth  in  all  of  them  alike,  and  worketh 
the  destruction  and  failure  of  them  all,  independently 
of  the  form,  religion,  laws,  customs,  or  other  things  in 


THE  NET  RESULT   OF  LAW.  165 

regard  to  which  they  differ  one  from  another ;  for  the 
cause  of  this  failure  must  be  common  to  all  of  them. 
Seemeth  this  conclusion  a  valid  one  to  thee  ? " 

"Verily,"  said  the  ancient.  "The  cause  must  be  one 
common  to  all  governments,  or  else  we  might  find  some 
where  a  government  in  which  this  cause  did  not  exist 
and  operate ;  and  so  find  a  government  that  possesseth 
permanency  and  secureth  the  welfare  of  the  people.  But 
there  hath  never  been,  and  is  not,  such  a  government  on 
earth.  The  cause  of  failure  must  be  common  unto  all." 

"Wilt  thou  draw  from  out  the  store-house  of  thine 
erudition,  and  show  unto  us  one  law  or  custom  that  is 
common  to  all  human  governments  ?  For  in  that  one 
thing,  whatever  it  may  be,  we  shall  assuredly  find  the 
sole  cause  of  the  failure  of  governments,  and  of  all  the 
tyranny,  injustice,  oppression,  and  wretchedness,  that 
maketh  human  life  a  burden  to  the  masses  of  man 
kind." 

"  Thou  must  state  the  law  or  custom  that  is  common 
to  all  governments  alike,  for  thyself,"  said  Am-nem-hat, 
"for  they  differ  almost  inconceivably  in  form,  religion, 
language,  laws,  and  customs ;  and  I  recall  none  which  is 
common  to  every  human  government." 

"All  human  governments,"  said  Ammonius,  "have 
one  thing  in  common :  they  agree  in  one  pernicious  law 
and  custom  which  is  the  cause  of  failure  in  them  all ; 
for  all  human  governments  alike  maintain  the  legal  right 
of  individuals  to  acquire,  hold,  and  transmit  private  prop 
erty-rights  in  estates,  offices,  prerogatives  ;  even  in  women 
and  in  slaves.  This  is  the  idolatry  of  mammon,  of  which 


166  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

all  nations  are  guilty,  the  only  idolatry  which  Jesus  ever 
denounced  by  name,  the  only  one  that  opposeth  his  king 
dom  with  a  potent  logic  based  upon  selfishness.  Many 
are  learning  to  hate  this  idolatry  in  respect  of  the  royal 
offices :  even  the  debased  Komans  scorn  the  name  of 
'king,'  and  call  their  master  'imperator,'  the  commander 
of  the  army ;  some  tribes  hate  it  in  its  application  to 
men,  and  own  no  slaves ;  the  Scythians  and  some  other 
nations  deny  the  right  of  property  in  women,  and  take 
but  one  wife.  Jesus  Christ  denies  the  right  of  private 
property,  not  only  in  women,  slaves,  offices,  and  preroga 
tives,  but  in  houses,  lands,  and  everything  else.  Hence 
the  property-law  of  his  kingdom  imperatively  demand- 
eth  the  transfer  of  all  that  the  believer  hath  unto  the 
common  Church ;  this  sacrifice  is  hard  to  make  if  one 
hath  great  possessions,  and,  therefore,  it  is  hard  for 
a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  No  rich 
man  doeth  this  except  under  the  power  of  a  domi 
nant  faith  which  teacheth  him  that  the  thing  which  is 
best  for  all  believers  is  best  for  him ;  and  that  the  com 
mon  good  is  better  than  self-aggrandizement.  No  sane 
man  doubteth  that  the  political  economy  of  Jesus  would 
bless  the  world,  if  men  would  adopt  it ;  but  not  many 
great,  not  many  wise,  not  many  rich,  not  many  noble, 
come  into  the  kingdom,  because  selfishness  revolts  at  the 
sacrifice  of  real  or  imaginary  advantages,  secured  to  them 
by  mammon-worship.  It  is  emphatically  the  gospel,  the 
glad  tidings,  for  the  poor,  and  it  is  a  regeneration  that 
beginneth  at  the  bottom,  not  at  the  top,  of  every  social 
system.  All  human  governments  are  founded  upon  the 


THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW.  167 

.idolatrous  faith  that  private  rights  of  property  are  th$ 
sacredest  thing  in  human  life,  and  that  government  over 
the  people  is  necessary  to  protect  it.  Jesus  denieth  this 
faith  :  he  saith  that  liberty  is  better  than  wealth,  equality 
better  than  rank,  fraternity  better  than  power.  He,  there 
fore,  in  his  kingdom,  abolisheth  private  rights  of  property 
in  order  to  reach  something  that  is  infinitely  higher  and 
better  for  all  men ;  and  he  summeth  up  human  life, 
laws,  governments,  all  that  pertaineth  to  man's  social 
condition,  in  one  short  sentence  which  containeth  in 
itself  the  ultimate  truth  of  all  social  and  political  econ 
omy  and  wisdom :  '  Ye  can  not  serve  God  and  Mam 
mon.'  And  the  Pharisees  hated  Jesus  only  because  they 
were  '  covetous ' ;  and  the  Romans  and  other  nations 
persecute  us  even  unto  death  because  they  know  that 
the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  the  overthrow 
of  all  government  over  the  people ;  and  they  love  power, 
and  wealth,  and  rank." 

"  How  wouldst  thou  punish  crime  if  all  human  govern 
ments  were  thus  abolished  ?  "  asked  the  ancient. 

"There  would  then  be  no  crime  to  punish,"  answered 
Ammonius.  "For  human  statutes,  growing  up  out  of  the 
idolatry  of  private  rights  of  property,  both  create  and  pun 
ish  crimes.  There  could  be  neither  treason  nor  war  in 
the  absence  of  government ;  and  all  other  crimes,  which 
in  some  shape  are  the  out-put  of  the  idolatry  of  mammon, 
would  cease  with  the  false  social  and  political  systems 
which  generate  and  nourish  them.  Crimes  are,  and  for 
nearly  three  centuries  have  been,  utterly  unknown  among 
the  Christian  communities." 


168  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

"What,  then,  standeth  in  the  way  of  the  triumph  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  " 

"Naught  except  the  selfishness  of  men  intrenched 
behind  the  strong  rampart  of  private  property-rights — 
the  one  thing  against  which  our  Lord  hath  declared  un 
dying  and  uncompromising  enmity." 

The  old  man  sat  in  silence  for  a  long  time,  and  his 
grave  and  noble  face  showed  the  traces  of  many  conflict 
ing  emotions.  Finally  he  said:  "Thy  son  did  once  ask 
me  why  I  am  not  a  Christian,  and  I  could  not  answer  him, 
nor  do  I  know.  But  Arius  thought  that  thou  mightst 
understand  better  than  either  he,  or  I,  the  exact  attitude 
in  which  my  soul  standeth  toward  Christ  and  his  re 
ligion.  Canst  thou  tell  me  what  the  trouble  is  ? " 

"Then,"  said  Ammonius  unto  him,  "thou  mayst 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ ;  thou  mayst  believe 
that  his  religion  is  divinely  true  and  perfect,  best  for 
thee  and  for  mankind ;  thou  mayst  believe  that  he  is 
ready  and  willing  to  accept  and  save  every  one  that 
cometh  unto  him  by  faith ;  thou  mayst  believe  that  he 
will  so  accept  and  save  thee  whenever  thou  wilt  come 
unto  him  thus ;  thou  mayst  believe  and  purpose  that 
thou  wilt  come — but  all  this  maketh  no  man  a  Chris 
tian  !  The  thing  which  maketh  thee  a  Christian  is  the 
voluntary  surrender  of  thine  own  will  to  the  will  of 
Jesus ;  to  abrogate  all  in  his  favor ;  to  accept  his  will 
as  thine  only  law.  And  this  he  saith  thou  canst  do  if 
thou  wilt ;  no  man  on  earth,  no  angel  in  heaven,  can 
do  this  thing  for  thee,  nor  force  thee  to  do  it  for  thy 
self  ;  nor  can  any  enginery  of  earth  or  hell  prevent  thee 


THE  NET  RESULT  OF  LAW.  169 

from  doing  this  thing  if  thou  wilt.  It  is  a  matter  between 
thee  and  thy  Lord  only  ;  and  thou  and  he  must  transact  it. 
But  if,  freely  and  voluntarily,  with  a  full  purpose  of  heart 
and  mind  to  obey  Christ  only,  thou  makest  this  grand 
surrender  of  thyself  to  him,  the  light,  and  peace,  and 
blessedness  which  he  imparteth  to  those  who  truly  love 
him  shall  be  thine  own  forever.  Wilt  thou  have  this 
man  Christ  Jesus  to  reign  over  thee  ?  " 

Then  a  glorious  beauty  shone  from  the  old  man's  coun 
tenance,  and  his  eyes  grew  bright  with  happy  tears,  and  he 
exclaimed  joyously:  "I  make  this  surrender  now;  the 
light  breaketh  in  even  upon  my  soul ;  it  is  as  plain  as 
the  noonday  sun  :  '  Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest, 
and  on  earth  peace ;  good- will  to  men  ! '  The  truth  for 
which  all  my  life  long  I  have  so  vainly  sought  cometh 
unto  me  as  to  a  little  child.  And  it  is  pure,  satisfying, 
beautiful  !  '  Praise  the  Lord,  0  my  soul ! '  " 

"'Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  chil 
dren,  ye  can  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  ! ' "  said 
Ammonius. 

"And  all  men,  great  and  small,  wise  and  ignorant, 
young  and  old,  meet  upon  an  exact  equality  before  our 
Lord,"  said  the  boy  Arius ;  "for  God  is  no  respecter 
of  persons." 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

THE  BLIND   BECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT. 

THE  next  day  was  the  Sabbath  again,  and  Christian 
families  from  the  region  round  about  Baucalis,  to  the 
number  of  some  four  hundred,  assembled  at  the  cottage 
for  religious  services.  Some  of  them  came  on  foot,  some 
on  horseback,  and  some  of  them  in  boats  along  the  coast. 
Am-nem-hat  informed  the  presbyter,  who  came  to  preach 
for  them,  of  his  desire,  and  that  of  Hatasa  and  her  daugh 
ter,  to  be  received  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  also 
informed  him  that,  at  his  cottage  in  the  neighborhood, 
he  had  a  considerable  sum  in  gold  and  silver,  which  he 
desired  to  give  to  the  Church,  or  in  some  other  way  con 
secrate  to  holy  uses  ;  and  that  the  Egyptian  ladies  had 
property  in  Alexandria,  all  of  which,  or  such  portion  as 
he  might  advise,  they  wished  to  use  in  the  same  way. 
The  presbyter  informed  them  that  such  a  desire  was  nat 
ural  and  commendable  in  every  one  that  sought  to  be  a 
Christian ;  but  that  for  the  time  being  they  must  remain 
as  stewards  of  their  own  estates,  because  the  Christians 
of  that  region  were  all  prosperous  and  needed  nothing, 
and  there  was  no  application  for  aid  from  other  com 
munities.  He  further  told  them  that,  as  soon  as  it  might 


THE  BLIND   RECEIVE  THEIR   SIGHT.  171 

be  considered  safe  for  them  to  do  so,  the  Christians  of  the 
vicinage  purposed  to  erect  a  church  for  the  accommoda 
tion  of  the  numerous  brethren  around  about,  and  that 
whenever  they  might  enter  upon  this  work  the  oppor 
tunity  would  be  given  to  them  to  aid  therein  ;  and  that, 
if  any  calamity  should  overtake  another  Christian  com 
munity,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  whereby  they  might 
be  brought  to  need  assistance,  he  would  inform  them 
of  it  as  soon  as  the  bishops  communicated  such  facts  to 
him;  but  that  at  that  time  there  was  no  way  in  which 
the  money  could  be  used. 

Early  in  the  morning  Arius  and  his  father  had  set 
up  some  poles  in  holes  in  the  ground  already  made  to 
receive  them,  and  had  stretched  strong  cords  from  them 
unto  the  eaves  of  the  cottage,  and  had  unrolled  and 
fastened  thereon  a  canopy  made  of  wide  cotton  cloth, 
which  formed  a  shelter  from  the  sunshine ;  and,  while 
some  of  the  congregation  sat  within  the  house,  the  greater 
part  of  them  found  places  on  the  outside  under  the  awn 
ing.  Hatasa  had  her  couch  drawn  up  beside  the  open 
window,  from  which  she  could  see  and  hear  all  that 
might  be  done.  Theckla  was  here,  there,  and  every 
where,  making  friends  with  nearly  all  the  girls  and  boys 
that  attended,  and  especially  with  one  little  fellow  of 
twelve  years  of  age  who  was  stone-blind.  In  the  course 
of  her  sympathetic  talk  with  this  lad  he  informed  her 
that  his  parents  had  brought  him  there  to  have  the 
Church  pray  that  his  sight  might  be  restored  to  him. 

"  How  long  hast  thou  been  thus  blind  ?  "  asked  Theckla. 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  the  boy.     "I  remember  that 


172  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

I  could  once  see,  and  the  world  was  beautiful  to  me,  and 
the  people,  and  many  things.  But  it  has  been  so  long 
since  then  ! " 

"Dost  thou  believe  that  their  prayers  can  cure  thy 
blindness?" 

"Assuredly,"  said  he,  "whenever  the  Lord  will." 

"  Why,  then,  hast  thou  not  sought  the  prayers  of  the 
Church  before  this  time,  if  so  thou  believest  ?  " 

"  My  parents  wished  not  to  have  the  miracle  wrought 
on  me  until  they  thought  me  to  be  old  enough  both  to 
understand  how  great  an  affliction  loss  of  sight  is  and 
to  remember  the  means  whereby  I  regained  it — if,  indeed, 
the  Lord  will  at  this  time  grant  our  request." 

"And  thou  surely  wilt  love  Jesus  much  if  he  shall 
hear  thee,  wilt  thou  not  ?  " 

"  Yea,  will  I !  Indeed,  I  love  him  now  with  all  my 
soul ;  but  if  he  restoreth  my  sight  unto  me  I  could  work 
for  him  far  more  when  I  am  older ;  and  chiefly  for  that 
reason  do  I  pray  for  his  mercy  in  this  matter." 

"  And  I  shall  pray  for  thee,  also,"  said  Theckla. 

And  she  told  Hatasa  and  Am-nem-hat  about  the  boy, 
and  they  looked  amazed  thereat,  but  said  nothing. 

By  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  all  had  assembled 
whom  they  expected  ;  and,  having  set  a  watch  on  the 
only  practicable  road  that  led  down  from  the  mountains 
to  Baucalis,  to  give  them  timely  notice  of  the  approach 
of  any  whose  coming  might  endanger  them,  the  exer 
cises  of  the  day  were  inaugurated  with  singing  and  prayer 
and  the  reading  of  the  gospel.  There  were  a  wonderful 
simplicity  and  directness,  both  in  songs  and  prayers.  If 


THE  BLIND  RECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT.  173 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour,  Friend,  and  King,  through 
whom  their  worship  was  addressed  to  God,  had  been 
visibly  present  regarding  the  manner  of  their  devotions, 
the  whole  service  could  not  have  been  more  earnest,  sim 
ple,  and  direct.  If,  indeed,  he  was  not  present,  they 
thought  and  felt  otherwise  ;  and  the  sense  of  his  presence 
was  as  real  and  actual  unto  them  as  if,  on  raising  their 
eyes,  they  could  have  looked  him  in  the  face ;  and  this 
unquestioning  faith  gave  a  strange  sense  of  life  and 
vividness  to  all  of  the  exercises,  the  progress  of  which 
Am-nem-hat,  Hatasa,  and  Theckla  watched  with  joy  and 
eagerness. 

The  presbyter  preached  with  great  simplicity  and  ear 
nestness,  describing  the  love  of  Jesus  and  the  triumphs 
of  the  faith,  and  in  the  peroration  his  address  swelled 
into  a  glorious  paean  of  victory  as  he  declared  the  stead 
fastness  and  faithfulness  of  certain  Christians  who  had 
recently  suffered  martyrdom  in  other  places,  telling  them 
that  no  man  could  foresee  how  soon  some  of  them  also 
might  be  called  upon  to  tread  the  glorious  path  by  which 
their  brethren  had  been  perfected  in  the  Lord,  and  trans 
ferred  to  eternal  felicity.  But,  looking  into  the  flashing 
eyes  and  rapt  faces  turned  upon  him  from  every  side, 
he  deemed  it  prudent  to  give  them  solemn  warning  that 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  was  not  to  be  officiously  sought 
after,  any  more  than  it  was  to  be  avoided  by  unfaithful 
ness  ;  but  that  they  must  be  alike  ready  to  live  unto 
Christ,  or  to  die  for  him,  as  the  providence  of  God  might 
determine  to  be  best  for  each  of  them. 

Then  he  said  that  if  there  were  any  present  who  had 
12 


174:  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

not  before  publicly  professed  their  faith  in  Christ,  and 
desired  to  do  so,  the  Church  would  then  witness  their 
good  confession  ;  and  thereupon  Am-nem-hat  and  Theckla 
both  stepped  forward  and  gave  their  hands  to  the  pres 
byter.  The  presbyter  then  briefly  stated  to  the  people 
the  facts  which  he  had  learned  in  regard  to  the  past  life 
and  experience  of  the  ancient,  and  the  recital  thereof  at 
once  rendered  the  old  man  an  object  of  respect  and  affec 
tion  to  all  of  them.  Their  interest  was  enlisted  by  the 
exceptional  fact  that  an  aged  and  learned  pagan  priest 
had  found  the  Saviour  precious  to  his  soul.  Then  Am- 
monius  sent  forward  Arius  and  bade  him  relate  to  the 
assembly  the  story  of  the  shipwreck  of  Hatasa  and  Theck 
la,  and  of  their  desire  to  become  Christians ;  and  the  boy 
narrated  the  circumstances  so  vividly,  and  with  such  un 
conscious  force  and  eloquence,  that  they  twain  also  were 
welcomed  into  the  hearts  of  all  those  Christians,  and  the 
sense  of  strangeness  and  restraint  that  naturally  affects 
the  mind  at  our  first  meeting  with  those  whom  we  have 
not  seen  before  was  at  once  dissolved  by  the  influence  of 
fraternal  interest  and  affection. 

Am-nem-hat  having  signified  his  desire  to  be  baptized 
by  immersion,  they  all  repaired  to  the  shore  of  the  little 
bay,  where,  with  appropriate  ceremony,  that  sacred  rite 
was  administered.  But,  owing  to  the  debilitated  condition 
of  Hatasa,  she  and  Theckla  received  the  same  sacred  rite, 
after  suitable  explanations,  by  having  the  water  sprinkled 
upon  them  at  the  house. 

Many  of  those  who  were  present,  and  especially  those 
who  had  come  in  boats,  brought  prepared  food  with  them, 


THE  BLIND   RECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT.  175 

and  soon  this  was  distributed  over  clean  cloths  spread  out 
under  the  trees,  and  all  of  them  did  eat  together  with 
gladness,  as  if  it  had  been  one  large  and  loving  family — 
Arete  and  old  Thopt  being  diligent  to  supply  from  their 
own  stores  everything  that  was  needed  or  had  been  for 
gotten. 

Then  in  the  afternoon  the  congregation  was  again  as 
sembled,  and  they  engaged  in  singing  and  prayer.  The 
presbyter  informed  the  people  that  a  blind  boy  had  come, 
with  his  parents,  to  ask  the  prayers  of  the  Church  that 
God  would  restore  his  sight,  explaining  the  reason  why 
they  had  not  sooner  done  so,  very  much  as  the  boy  had 
stated  to  Theckla,  and  saying  that  they  should  first  par 
take  of  the  holy  communion,  and  afterward  pray  for  the 
lad's  recovery.  Then  this  rite  was  administered ;  and  all 
of  them  engaged  in  prayer,  the  presbyter  leading  and  the 
people  making  occasional  responses.  And  even  while  they 
were  so  engaged  the  lad  sprang  to  his  feet,  and,  throwing 
his  arms  about  his  mother's  neck,  he  cried  aloud  :  "0 
mother,  I  see  !  I  see  ! — Brethren,  thank  God  for  me,  for 
my  sight  is  perfectly  restored  !  " 

And  the  presbyter  changed  the  form  of  his  words  from 
supplication  into  praise  and  thanksgiving;  and,  when  he 
had  finished,  many  pressed  forward  to  congratulate  the 
lad  upon  his  miraculous  cure  ;  and  afterward,  when  they 
went  away,  he  went  also,  seeing  as  well  as  other  boys. 

Then  later  in  the  evening,  having  first  agreed  upon  the 
place  of  their  next  meeting,  the  congregation  received  a 
benediction  at  the  mouth  of  the  presbyter  and  quietly  dis 
persed.  But  almost  every  head  of  a  family  first  came  unto 


176  ARIUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

Am-nem-hat  and  unto  Hatasa  and  Theckla,  and  urged 
them  with  great  kindness  to  come  unto  their  homes  and 
abide  with  them  as  long  as  might  be  convenient. 

But,  before  the  presbyter  departed,  Hatasa  requested 
that  he  come  unto  her,  and  of  him  she  asked  concern 
ing  the  baptism  for  the  dead  ;  and  having  diligently  in 
quired  of  her  concerning  the  character  and  manner  of  life 
of  her  husband,  and  having  heard  her  firm  declaration  of 
her  belief  that  he  was  one  who  ever  sought  to  do  that 
which  he  thought  to  be  just,  right,  and  true,  so  that  if 
he  had  sufficiently  learned  of  Jesus  he  would  have  been 
a  Christian,  the  presbyter  administered  to  her  the  baptism 
for  the  dead,  from  which  the  poor  lady  derived  a  strange 
and  unmeasurable  satisfaction  and  peace. 

But  Hatasa  did  not  recover  any  strength,  and  the  next 
day  she  was  weaker  than  ever,  and  the  next,  and  so  on 
from  day  to  day.  She  requested  them  to  hold  services  in 
her  room  every  evening,  and  seemed  gladly  to  engage  with 
them  in  prayer.  But  she  said  that  she  had  no  power  to 
will  or  to  wish  that  she  might  continue  to  live.  She 
dreaded  the  pain  and  weariness  of  a  lingering  convales 
cence,  and  she  said  that  the  only  earthly  care  that  had 
troubled  her  was  concern  for  her  daughter's  welfare,  and 
that  she  would  never  separate  her  from  her  newly  discov 
ered  but  precious  Christian  friendships,  and  did  not  wish 
her  to  go  among  their  pagan  kindred.  She  informed  Am- 
monius  that  there  was  much  property  in  Alexandria  that 
now  belonged  to  Theckla,  and  asked  him  what  disposition 
should  be  made  of  it.  Ammonius  at  first  said  :  "  Let  it 
go.  Theckla  shall  lack  for  nothing  ;  and  riches  are  a 


THE   BLIND   RECEIVE   THEIR   SIGHT.  177 

snare  to  the  young."  But,  upon  considering  that  the 
estate  would  go  to  the  pagan  kindred,  and  never  to  the 
Church,  unless  the  legal  right  of  the  girl  thereto  was  as 
serted,  he  sent  unto  Gyrene  for  a  proper  officer,  who  came 
and  took  the  depositions  of  Hatasa,  Arius,  Thopt,  and 
Theckla,  as  to  the  shipwreck  of  Amosis  and  his  family, 
and  as  to  the  identity  and  parentage  of  the  maiden,  to 
be  laid  before  the  orphans'  court  at  Alexandria.  She  also 
made  a  written  request  that  Theckla's  relative  Am-nem- 
hat  should  be  appointed  guardian  of  the  maiden's  person 
and  estate,  with  her  friend  Ammonius  to  succeed  him  if 
the  aged  man  should  die  during  Theckla's  minority.  And, 
having  accomplished  these  things  in  due  and  proper  form, 
she  began  to  fail  more  rapidly,  and  about  midnight  sank 
peacefully  into  rest,  almost  her  last  request  being  that  she 
might  be  buried  in  the  "sleeping-ground"  of  the  Chris 
tians  of  that  vicinity. 

And,  when  Theckla  saw  that  she  was  dead,  the  wild 
sorrow  of  her  heart  broke  out  in  almost  the  very  same 
words  that  her  mother  had  used  upon  the  death  of  Amo 
sis,  and  she  cried  :  "No  more  !  no  more  !  Ah,  never 
more  ! " 

But  Ammonius  said  unto  her,  "  Come  hither,  daugh 
ter  ! "  And,  when  she  had  come,  he  laid  his  hand  upon 
her  head  and  he  asked,  "  Art  thou  a  Christian  ?  " 

And  she  answered,  "  Yea,  I  love  the  Lord." 

Then  he  saith  :  "  That  is  well,  my  child.  But,  if  thou 
art  a  Christian,  use  not  the  vain  and  despairing  lamenta 
tion  of  the  heathen.  Thou  shouldst  not  think  nor  feel 
as  they  do  when  they  cry  out  in  their  bitterness,  'No 


178  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

more.'  Thy  mother  leaveth  thet  not  forever,  child.  She 
hath  only  gone  before  thee  by  a  little  space  at  most,  and 
thou  shalt  go  unto  her  again.  So  the  Lord  whom  thou 
lovest  doth  solemnly  promise  thee,  and  thou  must  never 
distrust  his  promise  or  his  love. " 

"  But  I  loved  my  mother  !    I  must  weep  for  her." 

"Yea,  daughter,  weep  as  much  as  thou  wilt.  That  is 
but  natural  and  proper.  So  perhaps  thou  wouldst  weep 
if  she  had  gone  to  Alexandria,  leaving  thee  behind  ;  yet 
thou  wouldst  take  comfort  in  the  hope  that  she  would 
come  to  thee  again.  So  now  she  hath  gone  to  Jesus,  and 
is  safe  with  him,  and  thou  must  take  comfort  in  the  hope, 
nay,  in  the  very  certainty,  that,  while  she  returneth  not, 
perhaps,  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  soon  go  unto  her.  And 
thou,  being  a  Christian  girl,  shalt  not  vex  thy  heart  with 
the  hopeless  sorrow  that  the  heathen  feel." 

And  the  girl  was  comforted  indeed,  and  her  pleasant 
faith  aided  the  buoyancy  of  health  and  youth  in  helping 
her  to  weary  down  the  sorrow  that  followed  the  loss  of  her 
young,  beautiful,  and  beloved  mother ;  because  the  power 
of  that  faith  brought  the  world's  Consoler  very  near,  and 
Death  to  her  was  shorn  of  his  greatest  terrors. 

It  was  agreed  among  them  that  Theckla  and  Am-nem- 
hat  should  reside  permanently  at  the  cottage.  The  old 
man  and  Arius  soon  brought  all  of  his  possessions  from  the 
hermitage,  even  to  his  favorite  goats  ;  and,  some  of  the 
neighbors  assisting  them,  they  built  another  room  of  stone, 
into  which  the  ancient's  manuscripts,  his  furniture,  and  his 
accumulation  of  coin,  were  all  safely  stowed  away.  And, 
all  things  having  been  thus  satisfactorily  arranged,  the  old 


THE   BLIND   RECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT.  179 

man  was  conveyed  in  the  boat  around  to  Apollonia,  and 
thence  he  took  shipping  unto  Alexandria,  where  he  pro 
duced  before  the  orphans'  court  the  depositions  and 
other  papers  committed  unto  him  by  Hatasa  ;  and,  as  guar 
dian  of  Theckla,  leased  the  houses  which  she  owned  in 
the  city,  and  received  and  brought  back  to  Baucalis  with 
him  some  elegant  personal  effects  that  had  belonged  to 
Hatasa ;  her  relatives  consenting  thereto  without  much 
opposition,  and  stipulating  only  that,  if  the  girl  should 
die,  they  were  to  be  immediately  informed  of  the  fact ; 
and  that,  if  she  should  live,  she  was  to  come  to  the  city  as 
soon  as  she  became  of  age.  They  were  all  pagans,  and 
the  old  priest  would  have  gone  almost  any  length  to  avoid 
placing  his  young  and  beautiful  Christian  ward  within  the 
range  of  their  influence.  And,  having  transacted  all  things 
necessary,  in  a  very  few  days  the  old  man  returned  gladly 
to  Baucalis — a  place  to  which  his  heart  seemed  bound  by 
stronger  and  more  beautiful  associations  than  had  ever 
come  into  his  long  and  lonely  life  elsewhere  on  earth,  not 
even  excepting  Thebes  and  Ombos,  nor  his  own  quiet 
hermitage  upon  the  mountain-side. 

And  the  aged  priest  at  once  installed  himself  as  the 
tutor  of  Theckla ;  and  he  taught  to  Arius,  also,  such  sci 
ence  and  literature  as  then  were  known  unto  the  wisest 
men  of  Egypt ;  but  some  things  he  continued  to  learn 
from  the  boy  himself. 

And  so  the  next  four  years  glided  quietly  away,  during 
which  the  routine  of  their  peaceful  lives  pursued  its  usual 
course  ;  and  in  their  flight  Arius  became  a  tall  and  grace 
ful  youth  of  twenty ;  Theckla  grew  into  a  blooming  and 


180  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

exquisitely  beautiful  woman  of  sixteen ;  for  in  the  ardent 
Libyan  latitudes  the  girls  grow  quickly  into  womanhood. 
These  years  made  small  changes  in  Ammonius  and  Arete  ; 
they  told  lightly  upon  the  venerable  Am-nem-hat,  whose 
pure  and  quiet  life  had  been  favorable  to  longevity  and  to 
the  preservation  of  his  faculties  unimpaired  even  unto  an 
extreme  old  age ;  and  Thopt  herself  bore  the  flight  of 
time  quite  well,  becoming  almost  imperceptibly  more  fixed 
and  rigid  in  all  her  actions  and  opinions,  and  more  and 
more  impressed  with  the  idea  that  Christianity  was  an 
excellent  and  beautiful  thing  for  wise  and  perfect  people 
like  those  among  whom  her  lot  was  cast,  and  might  even 
have  suited  her  if  it  had  not  sought  to  abolish  the  rela 
tion  of  mistress  and  slave  between  herself  and  Arete, 
"contrary  to  nature  and  to  common  sense,"  she  said ;  but 
that  old  grudge  she  could  never  entirely  get  over. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LOVE   AND   PARTING. 

DURING  these  four  years  a  great  change  had  occurred 
in  the  heart  and  in  the  person  of  beautiful  young  Theckla. 
There  came  a  gradually  developing  fullness  and  roundness 
over  her  whole  form ;  the  sharp,  angular  lines  of  child 
hood  faded  away  in  the  softer  curves  of  maturity  ;  a  deeper 
color  bloomed  upon  her  peachy  cheeks ;  a  sweeter,  more 
unfathomable  light  burned  in  her  dark,  soft  eyes ;  the 
delicate  pink  hue  under  the  skin,  which  in  all  Egyptians 
of  the  higher  classes,  whose  complexions  are  untanned  by 
a  hard  life  and  constant  exposure,  proves  the  ancient  race 
of  the  land  of  Kem  to  be  consanguineous  with  the  Aryan 
rather  than  with  the  Nigritian  family  of  man,  became 
more  clearly  and  deliciously  defined  ;  and  a  sort  of  intan 
gible  self-consciousness  grew  up  within  her  heart  which  in 
tuitively  led  her  to  keep  her  hands  off  the  boy  companion 
whom  she  loved  as  a  brother,  and,  without  understanding 
why  she  did  so,  she  ceased  to  romp  and  tumble  around 
with  him  as  she  had  been  accustomed  to  do  during  the 
first  year  of  her  residence  at  Baucalis.  In  place  of  casting 
aside  her  gown  and  plunging  into  the  waters  of  the  bay 
with  him,  when  she  went  to  bathe,  she  went  alone,  or 


182  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

with  Arete.  Yet  there  was  not  the  slightest  tendency  to 
prudishness  in  this  gradual  withdrawal  of  that  tactual  fa 
miliarity  with  Arius  which  had  characterized  her  first  in 
tercourse  with  him  ;  but,  without  ever  having  been  talked 
to  or  lectured  at  on  the  subject,  her  chaste,  pure  soul 
instinctively  drew  from  the  very  spirit  of  the  gospel  lessons 
fine  boundaries  of  feeling  that  made  her  unconsciously 
observe  even  the  most  delicate  bounds  of  maiden  modesty. 
But  this  retiring  somewhat  within  herself — this  ceasing 
from  the  outward,  demonstrative  signs  of  trust  and  affec 
tion — was  physical  only :  for  the  boy  and  girl  grew  daily 
nearer  and  dearer  to  each  other  ;  grew  daily  more  trustful 
and  confidential  with  each  other ;  and  daily  became  more 
and  more  identified  in  interest,  thought,  and  feeling. 
They  talked  not  of  love  any  more  than  an  affectionate 
brother  and  sister  would  have  done,  but  the  affection  that 
united  them  to  each  other  seeped  down  dew-like  to  the 
very  roots  of  life  in  both.  Ever  his  care  and  watchfulness 
for  her  grew  more  tender  and  respectful,  and  ever  the  smile 
with  which  she  acknowledged  his  constant  little  atten 
tions  grew  more  bright  and  trustful ;  and,  from  this  basis 
of  evenly  developing  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual 
progress  and  perfectness  in  both  of  them,  their  souls 
leaned  unto  each  other,  and  mingled  in  an  affection  as 
chaste,  strong,  and  intimate  as  human  nature  knows, 
growing  together  day  by  day,  and  attuning  themselves  to 
perfect  concord  in  all  the  utterances  and  aspirations  of 
their  beautiful  and  happy  lives — a  human  love  that  was 
impossible  to  pagan  civilization,  and  is  almost  impossible 
to  ours,  but  that  flourished  in  its  almost  divine  sweetness 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  183 

and  beauty  in  the  primitive  Christian  communities,  side 
by  side  with  thaumaturgy  and  the  graces  of  that  spir 
itual  life  which  hath  almost  become  a  dream  unto  the 
world  rather  than  a  blessed  reality. 

So  those  four  years  passed  fleetly  and  pleasantly  away, 
and  Arius  was  now  a  very  tall  but  graceful  youth  of 
twenty,  and  Theckla  was  an  exquisitely  beautiful  woman 
of  sixteen,  when  Ammonius  told  his  son  that  the  time  had 
come  at  which  he  desired  him  to  go  to  Antioch  in  Syria, 
and  pursue  his  studies  with  the  Bishop  Lucanius,  for  four 
or  five  years,  preparatory  to  his  ordination  as  a  presbyter 
— if,  indeed,  his  heart  was  still  set  on  preferring  to  be  a 
teacher  and  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  to  all  other  voca 
tions  ;  whereupon  the  young  man  at  once  answered  that  no 
earthly  inducement  could  lead  him  to  abandon  the  min 
istry,  for  which  he  had  always  considered  himself  set 
apart ;  and  immediately  the  family  began  to  make  prepa 
rations  for  the  young  man's  departure. 

On  the  evening  before  Arius  left  Baucalis,  he  and 
Theckla  wandered  along  the  shores  of  the  little  bay,  until 
they  happened  to  come  unto  the  spot  at  which  she  had 
been  rescued  from  the  raft,  and  the  girl  said:  "Even  there 
thou  didst  bring  me  unto  the  shore,  Arius.  It  seemeth  to 
me  to  have  been  ages  and  ages  ago  ;  and  yet  the  time  hath 
passed  so  pleasantly  ! " 

"Yea,"  said  Arius,  "yet  it  is  only  four  years  since 
then,  and,  after  to-morrow,  it  may  be  as  long  a  time  be 
fore  I  see  the  dear  old  farm  again,  or  thee.  Theckla,  wilt 
thou  forget  thy  friend  and  our  happy  life  at  Baucalis,  and 
all  the  things  which  made  us  blessed  here  so  long  ?  " 


184  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

"Nay,"  she  said.  "Life  opens  wide  before  us  both, 
Arius,  as  we  stand  here  upon  its  threshold — wide  as  the 
sea  out  yonder,  and  unknown.  But  Baucalis  will  always 
be  the  dearest  place  on  earth  to  me." 

"  Theckla,"  said  the  young  man,  taking  one  of  the  girl's 
hands  in  his,  "I  love  thee  truly  and  tenderly.  When  I 
shall  have  finished  the  course  of  study  at  Antioch,  I  desire 
to  come  for  thee  and  claim  thee  for  my  wife.  Dost  thou 
love  me,  Theckla,  so  that  thou  couldst  be  happy  as  my 
wife?" 

And  the  girl  laid  her  head  against  his  shoulder,  and, 
raising  her  dewy  eyes  to  his,  she  said,  "  If  thou  so  lovest 
me,  Arius,  I  would  be  the  happiest  woman  in  the  world 
to  be  thy  wife." 

Then  the  young  man  kissed  her  tenderly,  and  said  : 
"Theckla,  let  this  be  a  covenant  between  thee  and  me 
before  the  Lord,  that  when  I  shall  have  finished  the 
studies  required  at  Antioch,  I  will  come  for  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  be  my  wife." 

And  she  answered :  "  Yea,  Arius  !  Let  this  be  our 
covenant." 

That  was  all  of  it— quiet,  simple,  truthful ;  based  upon 
the  very  highest  mutual  love,  respect,  and  trust ;  but  no 
grand  ceremonial  that  human  pride  ever  imagined,  or 
human  lips  pronounced,  could  have  any  more  thoroughly 
bound  and  consecrated  them  unto  each  other  for  life  and 
death  than  did  that  simple,  heart-felt  covenant.  For  in 
those  days,  and  in  the  Christian  communities,  marriage 
was  not  of  compulsion,  or  of  trade,  convenience,  ambition, 
but  of  free,  intelligent  choice ;  and  among  those  people 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  185 

the  equally  shameful  blasphemies  of  adultery  and  divorce 
were  utterly  unknown. 

So,  upon  the  next  morning,  after  a  tender  leave-taking 
all  around,  in  which  even  old  Thopt  commended  him  to 
the  guardianship  of  God,  Arius,  accompanied  by  his  father, 
loaded  his  boxes  into  their  little  boat,  and  they  made  their 
way  unto  Apollonia,  at  which  port  they  took  shipping  for 
Alexandria,  whence  immediately  they  went  in  another  ship 
unto  the  sea-port  for  Antioch,  and  thence  to  the  ancient 
city  wherein  they  "were  first  called  Christians." 

Ammonius  recalled  to  the  mind  of  the  Bishop  Luca- 
nius  the  fearful  storm  in  which  they  two  had  met  more 
than  twenty  years  before,  which  interview  had  been  the 
medium  of  the  Lord's  mercy  unto  him ;  and  was  most 
gladly  and  affectionately  welcomed.  Ammonius  informed 
the  bishop  that,  having  been  precluded  from  the  public 
ministrations  of  the  word  by  his  own  physical  infirmities, 
he  had  made  a  vow  to  dedicate  the  first  son  that  might  be 
born  unto  him  to  the  service  of  God,  and  had,  therefore, 
brought  unto  him  his  only  child,  a  lad  not  altogether  ig 
norant  of  the  gospel  nor  of  letters,  whose  heart  was  set 
upon  doing  the  Lord's  work,  to  profit  by  his  experience 
and  instructions.  And  the  lad  pleased  the  bishop  greatly  ; 
and,  after  some  conversation,  Arius  was  admitted  into  the 
school,  or  class  of  young  men  whom  the  bishop  taught,  as 
a  deacon  in  the  church  immediately  under  the  charge  of 
Lucanius  ;  for  the  bishops  of  those  days  were  not  lords  or 
princes,  but  were  presbyters,  who  had  their  own  congrega 
tions,  and  who,  from  zeal  and  learning,  age  and  experience, 
were  intrusted  also  with  an  advisory  superintendence  of 


186  ARITJS  THE  LIBYAN. 

some  other  presbyters  and  churches,  and  especially  with 
the  training  of  young  deacons  for  the  ministry. 

And  the  next  day  Ammonius  resumed  his  homeward 
journey,  and  in  due  time  reached  Baucalis  without  acci 
dent  or  delay. 

On  the  very  same  evening  that  Arius  and  Theckla  had 
plighted  their  troth  unto  each  other,  the  young  man  took 
the  girl  by  the  hand,  and,  having  led  her  unto  his  parents, 
told  them  of  the  new  relationship  established  between 
them,  and  Ammonius  and  Arete  gladly  accepted  the 
maiden  Theckla  as  their  daughter ;  and  she  abode  with 
them  for  two  years  longer,  constantly  aiding  in  all  house 
hold  duties,  and  likewise  pursuing  such  studies  as  Am- 
nem-hat  advised  ;  and  especially  practicing  the  art  of 
writing  upon  papyrus,  and  upon  parchment,  and  upon 
vellum,  until  she  had  satisfied  herself  that  vellum  was 
altogether  the  best  material  for  a  certain  purpose  which 
she  had  in  view,  and  that  her  own  handwriting  had  ac 
quired  sufficient  precision  and  neatness  for  her  contem 
plated  task  ;  and  then  she  announced  her  purpose  of  re 
moving  to  the  city  of  Alexandria,  and  occupying  one  of 
her  own  houses  there,  if  only  Am-nem-hat  would  go  with 
her  and  make  his  home  at  her  abode.  This  purpose  she 
mentioned  to  the  whole  family  one  evening  after  their 
usual  religious  services,  whereupon  Arete  said :  "  Why 
wouldst  thou  leave  us,  daughter  ?  Art  thou  not  happy  at 
Baucalis  ?  " 

"  Yea,"  replied  Theckla.  "  Thy  home  hath  been  a  ha 
ven  of  rest  and  happiness  to  me,  and  I  could  be  happier 
here  than  elsewhere  in  the  world  ;  but  in  two  years  more 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  187 

our  Arias,  of  whom  the  bishop  writeth  such  loving  things, 
will  be  a  presbyter ;  and  I  go  hence  unto  Alexandria  be 
cause,  before  the  time  expires,  I  wish  to  make  with  mine 
own  hand  a  perfect  copy  of  the  scriptures  for  our  young 
presbyter,  and  also  wish  to  build  a  church  for  him,  that 
when  he  leaveth  the  bishop  he  may  have  a  church  and  a 
congregation,  and  a  perfect  copy  of  the  sacred  word  ready 
for  him  ;  and  thou  knowest  that  at  Alexandria  I  may  even 
find  original  manuscripts  of  both  gospels  and  epistles  from 
which  to  transcribe  my  copy.  What  less  than  this,  indeed, 
wouldst  thou  have  me  do  for  our  most  dear  young  pres 
byter?" 

And  they  all,  seeing  that  she  had  made  a  matter  of 
conscience  of  these  two  purposes,  ceased  to  oppose  her  de 
sign  ;  and  not  long  afterward  she  and  Am-nem-hat  were 
taken  in  their  little  boat  unto  Apollonia,  by  Ammonius ; 
and  thence  they  went  by  ship  to  Alexandria ;  and,  after  a 
speedy  and  pleasant  voyage,  they  cast  anchor  in  the  little 
harbor  of   Eunostos  ;    and   thence    removed    straightway 
unto  one  of  the  nine  dwellings  which  she  owned  in  Kha- 
3otis,  the  Egyptian  quarter  of  the  city.    Here,  with  the  aid 
)f  six  years'  accumulated  rents  from  her  handsome  estate, 
she  young  girl   quickly  furnished  her  home  in  the  most 
;omfortable  manner,  and  had  a  room  carefuDy  furnished 
'or  Am-nem-hat,  and  another  in  which  the  manuscripts 
yere  to  be  kept,  and  in  which  they  might  prosecute  their 
tudies  ;  for  the  aged  grand-uncle  and  the  young  maiden 
iad  almost  come  to  sustain  to  each  other  the  relation  of 
ear  companions  and  fellow-students  rather  than  that  of 
3acher  and  pupil.     Very  soon,  also,  with  the  aid  of  the 


188  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

old  man,  who  possessed  a  critical  knowledge  of  such  mat 
ters,  she  procured  a  large  quantity  of  the  finest  vellum, 
and  began  her  self-appointed  task  of  transcribing  the  scrip 
tures  for  Arius.  And  afterward  she  sold  (through  her 
guardian)  five  of  the  nine  houses  which  she  owned,  for  a 
large  sum,  and  having  carefully  selected  a  plot  of  ground 
suitable  for  the  purpose,  she  bought  it,  taking  the  title 
thereto  in  the  name  of  certain  persons  whom  she  knew  to 
be  Christians,  upon  a  secret  trust  for  the  common  Church, 
and  after  many  consultations  with  Am-nem-hat,  and  with 
the  bishop  and  with  other  friends,  she  began  the  work  of 
building  a  beautiful  and  substantial  church  ;  and,  with  the 
making  of  her  careful  and  accurate  copies  of  the  scrip 
tures  and  the  building  of  the  church,  both  she  and  Am- 
nem-hat  found  themselves  constantly  employed.  For,  al 
though  at  that  time  there  was  no  open  and  public  persecu 
tion  of  the  Christians,  it  had  not  long  ceased,  and  none 
knew  at  what  moment  the  caprice  of  their  pagan  rulers, 
stimulated  by  the  hatred  of  Jewish  and  pagan  priests, 
might  blaze  out  into  a  general  and  merciless  war  against 
them ;  so  that  their  meetings  were  quietly  held,  and  the 
erection  of  churches  was  carried  on  without  show  or  pub 
licity  ;  and  generally,  indeed,  parts  of  the  buildings  were 
used  as  a  school  for  the  children  of  Christians  ;  and  many 
a  church  was  saved  from  destruction  by  the  fitful  and  un 
certain  hate  of  the  populace  and  priests,  by  being  taken  for 
a  school  rather  than  a  church.  And  there  were  few  who 
desired  to  be  known  as  Christians,  except  to  persons  of  like 
faith,  though  none  hesitated  to  declare  this  faith  at  any 
peril,  when  called  in  question  about  it. 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  189 

The  city  of  Alexandria,  which  was  founded  by  Alex 
ander  the  Great,  about  322  B.  c.,  was,  at  the  date  of  our 
story,  one  of  the  most  populous,  wealthy,  and  intellectual 
cities  in  the  world.  Situated  twelve  miles  west  of  the 
Canopic  mouth  of  the  Nile,  its  walls  were  washed  on  the 
south  by  the  placid  waters  of  Lake  Mareotis,  and  on  the 
north  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  and  it  was  the  seat  and 
center  of  a  vast  industry  and  an  almost  unequaled  com 
merce.  The  streets  were  straight  and  parallel,  and  the 
city  was  divided  into  four  quarters  by  two  magnificent 
highways,  each  two  hundred  feet  wide,  crossing  each  other 
at  right  angles,  and  built  up  on  each  side  with  splendid 
houses,  temples,  and  public  buildings  of  every  kind.  A 
vast  necropolis  lay  west  of  the  city,  on  the  east  a  mighty 
hippodrome.  In  the  northeastern  part  was  the  Regis  Ju- 
daeorum,  or  Jewish  quarter,  wherein  the  Israelites  abode, 
but  their  business  extended  not  only  through  the  great 
city,  but  throughout  the  world.  The  western  part  was 
called  Rhacotis,  the  Egyptian  quarter,  and  contained,  be 
sides  its  vast  Libyan  population  and  magnificent  resi 
dences,  the  great  temple  of  Serapis,  and  the  sacred  statue 
of  the  god  that  had  been  brought  thither  out  of  Pontus. 
But  Bruchium,  the  royal  or  Greek  quarter,  was  the  most 
splendid  portion  of  the  city,  containing  the  palace  of  the 
Ptolemies,  on  Lochias,  a  peninsula  stretching  eastwardly, 
the  library  and  museum,  the  Caesarium,  or  temple  of  the 
Caesars,  and  the  Dicasterium,  or  court  of  justice,  and  other 
buildings  that  bore  witness  to  the  knowledge  of  Dinocrates 
the  architect,  who  rebuilt  the  temple  of  Diana  at  Ephe- 

sus.     About  a  mile  from  the  mainland  was  the  little  island 
13 


190  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  Pharos,  on  which  was  a  light-house  over  four  hundred 
feet  in  height,  that  was  begun  by  Ptolemy  Soter,  300  B.  c., 
and  finished  by  Philadelphus,  his  successor.  An  artificial 
mole  called  Hepta  Stadium,  nearly  a  mile  in  length,  con 
nected  the  island  with  the  mainland,  and  between  this  mole 
and  Lochias  was  the  great  harbor,  while  on  the  other  side 
of  it  was  a  smaller  harbor,  called  Eunostos  (safe  return),  in 
which  was  an  artificial  basin  known  as  Kibotos  (the  chest), 
which  was  filled  from  and  connected  with  Lake  Mareotis 
by  a  canal,  another  arm  of  which  stretched  eastward  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Nile.  Throughout  this  vast  metropolis,  in 
every  quarter  thereof,  undistinguished  by  dress,  nation 
ality,  language,  or  manners,  of  almost  every  race  under 
heaven,  engaged  in  every  avocation  except  official  business 
or  military  services,  unknown  except  to  their  co-religion 
ists,  dwelt  the  countless  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
forming  numerous  communities,  or  congregations,  that, 
without  any  public  visible  organization,  were  yet  bound 
together  by  bonds  of  faith  and  love  stronger  than  any 
Koman  statutes,  or  any  ties  of  nature,  or  any  ligaments  of 
interest  or  of  ambition.  Of  course,  in  so  vast  a  popula 
tion,  an  aged  man  and  a  young  girl  would  be  as  indis 
tinguishable  to  all,  except  their  own  small  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances,  as  any  particular  leaf  in  the  forest,  or  as 
any  wave  at  sea  ;  and  in  such  a  city,  the  selfishness  of  the 
crowd,  the  hurry  and  confusion  of  business  or  of  pleasure, 
formed  a  sort  of  refuge  for  the  Christians ;  so  that,  long 
before  the  period  of  which  we  write,  almost  the  first  cir 
cumstance  which  called  any  public  attention  to  their 
numbers  was  the  fact  that,  under  their  influence,  the 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  191 

pagan  temples  were  less  crowded,  and  the  pagan  offerings 
less  rich  and  free,  than  had  been  usual  in  times  past ;  and, 
when  the  fated  Israelites  had  been  accused  of  proselyting 
the  people  from  the  worship  of  the  gods,  they  defended 
themselves  against  the  angry  priests  by  declaring  that  not 
they,  but  the  Christians,  converted  men  of  all  nations  from 
the  old  superstitions,  and  led  them  to  abandon  the  temples 
and  forsake  the  gods. 

Soon  after  their  settlement  in  Alexandria,  Am-nem-hat 
had  informed  the  relatives  of  Theckla  of  the  young  girl's 
arrival,  and  they  had  courteously  called  to  see  her,  and  had 
invited  her  to  their  own  homes,  and  had  showed  every 
disposition  to  receive  the  beautiful  young  heiress  with 
favor  and  affection.  But  they  were  all  heathens,  and  her 
association  with  them  was  necessarily  limited  to  formal  and 
distant  intercourse ;  as  every  visit  to  the  great  temple  of 
Serapis,  every  public  occasion,  or  a  birth,  a  marriage,  or 
a  funeral  among  them,  might  force  her  either  to  coun 
tenance  their  pagan  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  to  attract 
unto  herself  an  unpleasant  and  perhaps  dangerous  atten 
tion  by  refusing  to  do  so.  Hence  she  preferred  to  main 
tain  only  a  ceremonious  acquaintance  with  her  kindred, 
and  to  find  her  real  friendships  among  the  Christians,  with 
many  of  whom  she  soon  came  to  be  upon  terms  of  social 
and  personal  intimacy  and  confidence. 

Among  the  relatives  whom  she  was  almost  compelled 
occasionally  to  meet,  and  to  receive  at  her  own  house,  was 
her  cousin  Harroun,  the  son  of  her  mother's  sister,  who 
also  was  a  pagan.  The  young  man  was  of  perfect  physical 
organization,  like  so  many  of  the  Egyptian  upper  class,  as 


192  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

beautiful  as  an  untamed  leopard,  of  quick,  bright,  spark 
ling  intelligence,  instinct  with  passion  and  appetite,  and  a 
general  favorite  among  the  aristocratic  youth  of  Egyptian 
society  in  the  city.  One  of  Theckla's  greatest  misfortunes 
and  annoyances  she  found  in  the  fact  that  this  elegant 
youth  conceived  a  violent  passion  for  her  at  first  sight,  and 
seemed  resolved  to  push  his  claims  to  the  heart  and  hand 
of  the  young  maiden  without  delay.  As  soon,  however,  as 
Theckla  perceived  any  intimation  of  his  feelings  in  regard 
to  herself,  she  quietly  arranged  to  receive  him  thereafter 
only  in  the  library,  and  took  care  to  see  that  Grand-uncle 
Am-nem-hat  should  be  present,  so  that  the  young  man 
never  got  an  opportunity  to  see  her  alone.  And  to  pre 
vent  the  constant  repetition  of  his  invitations  to  her  to 
visit  the  theatre,  the  hippodrome,  and  other  places  of 
amusement,  she  told  him  kindly  that  it  was  useless  to 
offer  such  courtesies,  for,  that  while  it  was  unpleasant  to 
refuse  them,  she  could  not  and  would  not  accept  them 
from  him  nor  from  any  one  else,  having  no  inclination  to 
mingle  in  such  throngs,  and  no  need  of  any  amusements 
except  those  which  she  was  accustomed  to  find  in  literary 
pursuits.  Harroun,  who  had  been  raised  under  a  system 
in  which  courtship  and  marriage  were,  to  a  large  extent, 
matters  of  convenience,  and  in  which  a  chaste  girl  was 
not  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  any  will,  but  was  to  be 
disposed  of  as  her  relations  might  deem  to  be  proper  and 
advantageous,  thought  that  he  had  never  seen  so  shy  a 
maiden  ;  but,  in  spite  of  her  seeming  unconsciousness  and 
manifest  indifference,  he  ceased  not  to  visit  her,  claiming 
the  privilege  of  a  near  relation  in  that  particular,  and 


LOVE   AND  PARTING.  193 

ceased  not  to  show  his  admiration  for  her  by  looks  which 
were  almost  loathsome  to  her  pure  young  soul.  For  the 
youth,  like  every  other  pagan,  was  mostly  a  brute,  a  very 
beautiful  and  elegant  animal,  truly,  but  not  the  less  an 
animal  ;  a  very  intellectual  and  gifted  brute,  but  not  the 
less  brutal;  and  his  sensuous  admiration  was  offensive  to 
the  girl.  The  lofty  and  pure  affection  to  which  she  and 
Arius  gave  the  name  of  love  would  have  been  utterly 
incomprehensible  to  him  as  to  every  heathen.  That  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  love  sprang  as  directly  out  of 
sensuous  admiration  and  preference  as  does  the  passion 
of  the  lower  animals ;  and  while  she  did  not  comprehend 
why  his  advances  were  so  repulsive  to  herself,  she  began  to 
feel  his  preference  as  a  sort  of  persecution,  and  avoided 
him  as  much  as  possible.  Yet,  as  far  as  a  pagan  is  capable 
of  love  at  all,  he  loved  her,  and  the  very  fact  that  he  found 
her  favor  hard  to  win  rendered  successful  pursuit  of  her 
all  the  more  desirable.  To  him  it  seemed  a  strange  and 
unprecedented  thing  that  a  girl  so  young,  so  beautiful, 
and  so  wealthy,  should  voluntarily  renounce  all  the  social 
advantages  of  the  aristocratic  circle  in  which  her  family 
moved,  and  spend  her  time  in  seemingly  unending  studies, 
with  little  or  no  companionship  save  that  of  the  grave  and 
taciturn  old  man  who  was  never  absent  from  the  room 
while  he  was  there ;  and  Harroun  gradually  learned  to 
regard  his  unfailing  presence  in  the  light  of  a  personal 
injury  to  himself,  so  that  he  soon  harbored  a  bitter  preju 
dice  against  the  ancient,  that  lacked  very  little  of  growing 
into  actual  hatred.  But  there  was  nothing  tangible  about 
which  to  make  a  quarrel,  except  the  fact  that  he  could 


194  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

never  see  Theckla  alone,  and,  as  this  seemed  to  be  her 
own  choice,  exercised  in  her  own  house,  there  was  nothing 
for  him  to  do  except  to  submit  to  it ;  but  his  aversion  to 
the  quiet  and  dignified  old  man  increased  in  intensity  from 
month  to  month.  Finally,  he  told  her  in  Am-nem-hat's 
presence  that  he  had  been  called  away  by  the  public  service 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  beyond  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile, 
and  would  be  absent  for  several  months  ;  and  that  he 
desired  to  have  some  private  conversation  with  her  before 
he  departed  from  Alexandria.  The  young  girl  looked 
somewhat  disconcerted  by  this  request,  but  she  imme 
diately  arose,  and  said  unto  him,  "  Let  us  pass  into  the 
adjoining  room,  cousin,  and  I  will  hear  thee." 

He  followed  her  gladly,  and  no  sooner  had  the  door 
closed  behind  them  than  he  came  close  up  to  her  and 
began  a  most  vehement  protestation  of  his  love.  As  soon 
as  there  was  the  slightest  pause  in  the  passionate  and 
rapid  torrent  of  his  speech,  she  said,  gravely  and  calmly  : 
"  Cousin,  hear  me  for  a  moment.  I  have  carefully  avoided 
any  such  declaration  as  thou  hast  begun  to  make,  and 
beseech  thee  to  leave  it  unspoken.  It  is  useless  to  say 
such  things  to  me,  and  can  only  occasion  mutual  and 
unavailing  regrets.  Thou  art  my  cousin,  and,  I  trust, 
my  friend.  There  never  can  be  anything  else  between 
us,  and  it  is  folly  to  think  otherwise.  Here  let  it  rest, 
and  let  us  return  to  the  library,  and  forget  this  foolish 
episode." 

"  There  is  no  folly  about  it ! "  cried  the  young  man, 
passionately.  "We  are  both  young  and  wealthy,  and  in 
every  way  suitable  companions.  It  is  very  natural  and 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  195 

right.  I  am  neither  an  idiot  nor  a  child,  and  I  love  thee, 
Theckla,  and  will  not  be  put  aside  in  any  such  fashion. 
Why  dost  thou  continually  avoid  me  ?  Why  hast  thou  for 
months  contrived  so  that  I  can  not  speak  to  thee  except 
in  the  presence  of  strangers,  or  of  that  old  mummy  whom 
thou  keepest  at  thy  side  forever  ?  Why  dost  thou  deny 
thyself  all  the  pleasures  and  associations  natural  to  thine 
age  and  social  rank  ?  Why  spendest  thou  all  thy  time  in 
dreary  readings,  unsuited  to  thy  youth  and  circumstances, 
for  the  amusement  of  that  selfish  old  fossil  there,  who 
never  leaveth  thee  for  a  day  nor  an  hour  ?  All  this 
must  and  shall  be  changed  ?  " 

Then  the  girl  drew  herself  up  straight,  and,  fixing  her 
dark  eyes  full  upon  him,  said  in  calm  and  measured  tones, 
"If  I  give  thee  a  good  reason  for  having  avoided  thee, 
and  for  having  endeavored  to  escape  any  such  useless 
and  unpleasant  conversation  as  this  one,  will  that  suffice 
thee?" 

"Yea!  if,  indeed,  the  reason  be  a  good  one." 

"The  reason,  then,  is  this,"  she  answered  :  "I  do  not 
love  thee ;  I  do  not  desire  thy  love ;  strange  and  incredi 
ble  as  it  may  seem  to  thee,  I  do  not  even  admire  thee  in 
any  way  whatever,  and  thy  profession  of  affection  is  irk 
some  to  me,  and  the  more  irksome  the  more  thou  dost 
insist  upon  my  hearing  thereof." 

"But  thou  wilt  learn  to  love  me,  Theckla,"  he  cried 
out  vehemently,  "  and  thou  shalt  give  me  some  reasonable 
opportunity  to  win  thy  regard  !  Ah,  I  understand  it  per 
fectly.  It  is  the  fault  of  that  old  grand-uncle,  who  ought 
to  have  been  'the  Osiris  Justified'  half  a  century  ago. 


196  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

He  hath  prejudiced  thy  heart  against  me,  because  he  de* 
sireth  thee  to  consume  thy  youth  and  brightness  in  min 
istering  unto  his  desolate  and  selfish  old  age.  But  I  swear 
by  all  the  gods  that,  as  soon  as  I  return  home,  I  will  have 
thy  nearer  kindred  take  thee  away  from  him,  so  that  thou 
shalt  take  thy  proper  place  among  the  maidens  of  thine 
own  age  and  rank,  and  learn  some  more  reasonable  way 
of  life,  and  some  better  views  of  duty  and  of  happiness 
than  his  selfish  and  exacting  age  can  teach  thee !  I 
see  that  thou  art  now  blinded  by  this  old  man's  in 
fluence,  and  resolved  against  the  course  of  reason  and 
of  nature  ;  so  for  the  present,  fare  thee  well,  Theckla, 
but  remember  that  I  love  thee,  and  that  thou  shalt  yet 
be  mine  own." 

Then  the  young  man,  trembling  with  rage  and  disap 
pointment,  fled  from  the  house,  and  for  many  months  the 
young  girl  saw  no  more  of  him. 

Meanwhile,  the  building  of  the  church  was  quietly  but 
diligently  prosecuted ;  and,  with  the  most  elaborate  and 
conscientious  patience,  Theckla  labored  to  make  an  ac 
curate  copy  of  the  scriptures,  and,  through  the  bishop 
and  other  Christian  friends,  she  obtained  the  use  of  more 
than  one  original  epistle  from  which  to  transcribe  the  text. 
Some  months  before  the  date  arrived  at  which  Arius  was 
to  be  ordained,  the  diligent  young  girl  had  the  satisfaction 
of  witnessing  the  completion  of  the  edifice,  a  splendid  and 
substantial  structure,  which  the  bishop  dedicated  to  God 
by  the  name  of  "  Baucalis,"  given  unto  it  at  Theckla's 
request ;  and  a  number  of  Christians  who  had  learned  all 
about  the  young  girl's  history,  and  why  and  for  whom 


LOVE  AND  PARTING.  197 

the  church  had  been  builded,  organized  themselves  into  a 
community,  and  customarily  held  service  of  singing  and 
prayer  therein.  And  they  prepared  also  a  letter,  signed  by 
all  of  them,  in  which  they  informed  Arius  that  they  had 
agreed  in  requesting  him  to  come  and  be  their  presbyter, 
as  soon  as  he  might  be  ordained  ;  and  that,  although  they 
knew  him  not  in  the  flesh,  they  were  ready  to  receive  him 
with  open  hearts,  first  for  Theckla's  sake,  and  afterward, 
they  hoped  and  believed,  even  for  his  own.  About  the 
same  time,  also,  the  young  girl  completed  the  copy  of  the 
sacred  writings  which  she  had  made  for  Arius ;  and  this 
labor  of  love,  and  of  care  and  patience,  included  the  Old 
Testament,  the  New  Testament,  the  Pastor  of  Hermas, 
and  the  Epistles  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  together 
with  some  letters  written  by  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna, 
all  copied  in  the  uncial  Greek  text,  with  minutest  care 
and  accuracy.  And  she  had  a  box  made  of  cedar  of 
Lebanon,  with  silver  hinges  and  fastenings,  to  contain  the 
precious  parchments,  and  a  silver  plate  thereon,  upon 
which  was  engraved  the  name  "Arius"  ;  and,  having  fin 
ished  both  the  church  and  the  writings,  she  prepared  a 
letter  unto  him,  and  put  her  letter,  and  that  which  the 
Church  had  written  unto  him,  and  the  scriptures,  into  the 
cedar  box,  and  laid  them  away  safely,  awaiting  an  oppor 
tunity  to  send  them  to  him  against  the  time  of  his  ordina 
tion,  for  the  Christians  of  those  days  sent  no  letters  or 
parcels  which  might  show  that  they  were  Christians,  ex 
cept  by  the  hands  of  those  whom  they  knew  to  be  of  the 
same  faith. 

And  this  was  Theckla's  letter  to  Arius  : 


198  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"DEARLY  BELOVED  :  Seeing  that  thou  hast  devoted 
thy  life  unto  the  service  of  our  blessed  Lord,  I  did  medi 
tate  much  how  I  also  might  be  able  to  accomplish  some 
good  in  his  holy  name,  and  likewise  gratify  thee.  I  have 
accordingly,  during  the  past  two  years,  caused  to  be 
builded  here  a  beautiful  church,  which  hath  recently  been 
dedicated  by  the  name  of  'Baucalis,'  in  memory  of  our 
dear  old  home ;  and  thou  wilt  learn,  from  the  letter  sent 
herewith,  that  our  little  community  desireth  thee  to  be 
our  presbyter.  Also,  as  a  token  of  the  great  love  where 
with  thy  Theckla  loveth  thee,  she  hath  written  with  her 
own  hand  a  most  careful  copy  of  the  sacred  scriptures, 
and  of  some  other  manuscripts  which  thou  esteemest 
highly,  and  sendeth  the  same  unto  thee,  with  the  love 
of  thy  THECKLA." 

And  a  short  time  before  the  days  set  for  the  ordination 
of  Arius,  and  of  other  young  men  who  were  deacons  study 
ing  with  the  bishop  at  Antioch,  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria 
went  unto  the  ancient  city  to  be  present  upon  that  occa 
sion,  and  by  him  Theckla  sent  unto  Arius  the  box  con 
taining  the  scriptures  and  letters ;  and,  having  so  done, 
the  young  girl  waited  the  coming  of  the  youthful  pres 
byter,  with  her  heart  full  of  love,  and  peace,  and  happi 
ness. 


CHAPTEE  XVL 

BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE   OF  SEEAPI8. 

AND  while  Theckla  thus  awaited,  with  gladdest  antici 
pations  and.  almost  trembling  joy,  for  the  consummation 
of  her  own  happiness,  Harroun  returned  to  Alexandria, 
and  immediately  began  manoeuvring  to  have  the  young 
girl  taken  to  the  house  of  his  mother,  or  to  some  other 
relative,  where  she  would  be  thrown  into  association  with 
those  of  her  own  age  and  rank,  and  removed  beyond  the 
influence  of  old  Am-nem-hat.  And  immediately  there 
after  his  mother  came  unto  Theckla,  and  urged  her,  by 
every  argument  and  inducement  which  she  deemed  most 
suitable  to  influence  a  young  and  beautiful  girl,  to  aban 
don  the  strange  seclusion  in  which  she  had  lived  so  long, 
and  come  to  her  home,  and  take  her  proper  place  among 
the  best  and  gayest  young  people  of  the  city — a  society  to 
which  she  belonged  by  birth,  and  which  she  was  so  well 
fitted  to  adorn.  Theckla  kindly  but  persistently  refused 
every  such  invitation,  pleading  her  orphaned  condition, 
her  love  of  solitude  and  literature,  and  her  strong  aversion 
to  the  gay  and  beautiful  but  voluptuous  life  led  by  the 
golden  youth  of  Alexandria. 

"But  Theckla,  darling,"  said  her  aunt,  "if  thou  dost 


200  AEIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

not  at  least  occasionally  repair  to  the  great  temple  of 
Serapis,  where  all  the  youth  and  fashion  of  the  city  are 
often  seen,  the  world  will  learn  to  regard  thee  as  an 
atheist ;  and  I  assure  thee,  dear,  that  there  is  hardly  any 
thing  more  injurious  to  a  young  girl's  prospects  than  a 
reputation  for  singularity  or  eccentricity  in  any  respect. 
The  world  takes  it  for  granted  that  there  must  be  some 
thing  radically  wrong  about  every  young  girl  that  is  in 
any  respect  different  from  others  of  her  own  age  and  rank, 
or  that  affects  to  feel,  and  think,  and  act  differently  from 
them.  Thou  must  ever  sacrifice  thine  own  inclinations  to 
conform  thyself  to  that  which  is  considered  the  proper 
thing." 

"Why,  aunt,"  said  Theckla,  laughing,  "thy  talk  of 
what  '  the  world  '  will  say  and  do  amuses  and  amazes  me. 
Not  one  out  of  ten  thousand  of  the  people  of  Alexandria 
knoweth  or  careth  for  me.  'The  world,'  it  seems  to  me, 
is  thyself,  and  Cousin  Harroun,  and,  perhaps,  not  a  half 
score  besides  my  relatives ;  and,  while  I  meddle  not  with 
their  pursuits,  it  seemeth  to  me  that  it  would  be  easy 
enough  for  them  to  avoid  distressing  themselves  on  my 
account. " 

"But  thy  manner  of  life  exciteth  nnfavorable  com 
ment.  Thou  dost  refuse  to  go  into  society,  and  scornest 
all  the  amusements,  pleasures,  and  pursuits  proper  to  thine 
age,  and  family,  and  wealth.  Believe  me,  dear  Theckla, 
that  no  young  girl  can  affect  such  eccentricities  without 
being  visited  by  the  condemnation  of  society.  Thou  must 
leave  this  ascetic  and  unnatural  life,  and  live  conformably 
to  nature  and  to  custom.'* 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPIS.  201 

"I  suppose,"  said  Theckla,  laughing  again,  "that 
'society,' like  'the  world,' signifieth  that  very  small  aud 
exclusive  circle  of  rich  and  aristocratic  people  to  which  my 
noble  kindred  belong.  But  surely  I  can  determine  what 
manner  of  life  suiteth  mine  own  feelings,  inclinations,  and 
desires  as  well  as  any  of  them  might  do.  And  concerning 
these  matters,  I  will  even  judge  for  myself,  not  seeking  in 
any  way  to  influence  their  actions  or  opinions,  but  abiding 
steadfastly  by  mine  own." 

"  Horrible  !  0  Hes  !  "  cried  her  aunt.  "  To  think  that 
mine  own  niece,  my  sister's  child,  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
should  be  unmaidenly  enough  to  hold  any  inclinations, 
desires,  or  opinions  except  those  which  are  framed  for  her 
by  the  custom  of  the  class  to  which  she  belongeth  !  Why, 
Theckla,  a  young  girl  hath  no  more  business  to  entertain 
or  handle  such  things  as  *  opinions  '  than  she  has  to 
handle  sword  or  spear.  It  is  bold,  vicious,  unmaidenly  ! 
Never — never — never  utter  such  an  atrocious  and  bar 
barous  sentiment  again  !  If  I  did  not  know  thee  to  be 
chaste,  and  pure,  and  maidenly,  such  abominable  utter 
ances  would  make  me  fear  that  thou  art  on  the  road  to 
ruin!" 

"I  am  aware,"  said  Theckla,  "that  the  Egyptians 
regard  all  females,  young  girls  especially,  as  things ;  but  I 
consider  myself  as  a  person,  not  as  a  thing  at  all.  Nature 
hath  granted  unto  me  certain  rights,  privileges,  powers  of 
mind  and  body,  and  hath  devolved  upon  me  certain  duties 
and  responsibilities.  Thou  seest,  therefore,  that  I  am  un 
fitted  for  association  with  young  ladies  who  are  merely 
things,  not  persons.  Thou  seest  that  such  an  association 


202  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

might  be  dangerous  to  them ;  and  might  interfere  with 
their  '  prospects '  by  rendering  them  averse  to  being  reared 
up,  to  be  selected  by  some  'eligible'  youth,  or  by  some 
rich  and  influential  old  man,  as  a  horse  or  a  dog  is  selected, 
and  then  disposed  of  as  any  other  domestic  animal  is  pro 
vided  for.  And  thou  must  assuredly  perceive  that  it 
would  be  most  unwise  of  thee  to  expose  these  pretty, 
proper,  feminine  '  things '  to  the  dangerous  influences  of 
an  association  with  a  girl  who  hath  the  hardihood  to  be 
lieve  that  she  is  a  person,  and  the  boldness  to  declare  that 
she  hath  *  opinions,'  convictions  of  duty  and  of  right 
which  she  will  not  sacrifice  even  to  the  terrible  fear  of 
'the  world'  nor  of  'society.'  It  is  best,  therefore,  even 
to  suffer  me  to  live  as  I  desire  to  do,  neither  interfering 
with  my  relatives  in  their  way  of  life,  nor  suffering  them 
to  prescribe  my  own." 

The  good  lady's  fastidious  notions  of  "propriety" 
were  fearfully  shocked  by  the  young  girl's  independent 
character  and  utterances ;  and  she  determined  in  her  own 
heart  to  do  whatever  she  could  to  prevent  her  son  from 
continuing  his  pursuit  of  a  girl  whose  alliance  with  him 
would  have  been  so  advantageous  in  every  way  if  she  had 
not  been  spoiled  by  such  absurd  and  dangerous  opinions. 

But  the  young  man  Harroun  had  his  opinions  also, 
one  of  which  was  that  he  was  almost  irresistible ;  and  an 
other,  that  the  "  opinions  "  of  any  young  girl  were  merely 
moral  or  social  megrims,  which  any  man  of  common 
sense  and  passable  appearance  ought  to  know  how  to  cure 
or  alleviate  ;  and  he,  therefore,  did  not  admit  the  possi 
bility  of  giving  up  Theckla  voluntarily,  or  of  being  ulti- 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPI8.  203 

mately  rejected  by  her,  although  he  dreaded  Am-nem-hat's 
influence  over  her,  and  began  to  hate  the  old  man  with 
great  intensity ;  for  he  supposed  that  the  declaration  of 
personal  independence  on  the  part  of  Theckla,  whereby 
his  mother  had  been  shocked,  and  even  frightened,  was 
simply  the  repetition  of  sentiments  inculcated  by  the 
learned  and  ancient  man,  the  force  and  effect  of  which 
Theckla  did  not  even  comprehend.  He  dreamed  not  that 
these  very  principles  of  thought  and  of  action  might  be 
the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  a  new  religion  which  had, 
with  undying  energy  and  power,  laid  hold  upon  the  very 
roots  of  her  whole  nature,  so  that  no  change  therein  was 
henceforth  at  all  possible,  except  in  the  direction  of  larger 
life  and  development.  Accordingly,  notwithstanding  his 
mother's  unfavorable  report,  both  upon  his  own  pros 
pects  of  successful  courtship,  and  also  upon  the  bold,  self- 
centered,  fearless  character  of  the  maiden  herself,  he  re 
solved  to  visit  her  as  usual,  and  to  prosecute  his  suit 
with  diligence.  He  called  immediately  upon  her,  and 
finding  that  neither  Theckla  nor  Am-nem-hat  was  at 
home,  with  the  freedom  allowed  by  his  kinship  to  the 
maiden,  he  passed  on  into  the  library,  intending  to  tarry 
there  until  her  return.  While  he  lingered  there  im 
patiently,  his  eye  caught  sight  of  a  roll  of  parchment 
which  had  been  thoughtlessly  left  lying  in  the  great  arm 
chair  usually  occupied  by  Am-nem-hat,  and,  to  amuse  him 
self  until  Theckla's  return,  he  picked  up  the  book  and 
glanced  at  the  title  thereof.  That  title  was,  "  The  Gospel 
}f  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  written  by  His 
Servant  John." 


204  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Harroun  started  visibly  as  he  read  the  words  ;  and  then 
a  baleful  light  came  into  his  beautiful  dark  eyes,  and  a 
sinister  smile,  that  made  his  handsome  face  look  malevolent 
and  cruel,  passed  over  his  bright  young  face.  He  knew 
that  it  was  a  very  grave  offense  against  the  law  to  read  or 
to  possess  such  books,  yet,  impelled  by  curiosity,  he  read 
a  page  or  two  thereof,  beginning  with  the  words :  "In  the 
beginning  was  the  Logos,  and  the  Logos  was  with  God,  and 
the  Logos  was  God  "  ;  and  ending  with  the  words,  "  And 
I  saw,  and  bare  record  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God  ";  but, 
remembering  that  he  was  violating  the  law  by  reading  this 
writing,  he  turned  it  over  in  his  hand,  and  upon  the  back 
thereof  read  this  inscription:  "Am-nem-hat  of  Ombos." 

"So  !  so  !"  murmured  the  young  man.  "The  old 
and  meddlesome  idiot  hath  fallen  into  the  accursed  and 
criminal  superstition  of  the  Christians  !  and  from  his 
manner  of  life  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  Therapeutae,  as  they 
style  their  most  crazy  ascetics,  who  seldom  appear  in  the 
cities,  or  leave  the  deserts  and  the  mountains.  The  book 
itself,  as  far  as  I  have  read,  seemeth  to  have  been  bor 
rowed  from  the  Neo-Platonists,  and  is  harmless  enough, 
surely.  But  it  is  a  crime  to  own  or  read  any  magical 
book  of  the  Christians,  and  this  book  is  Am-nem-hat's  ! 
I  think  I  see  a  way  to  rid  myself  of  the  pestilent  old 
dotard  !  Ah  !  a  Christian  !  A  renegade  high-priest  of 
Ombos  !  Manifestly  a  corrupter  of  youth  !  Perhaps  sent 
hither  by  his  accursed  associates  to  seduce  the  wealthy 
orphan  into  the  same  illegal  and  abominable  association 
and  plunder  her  of  her  property.  I  think  I  see  my  way 
clear  before  me  ! " 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPIS.  205 

The  young  man  carefully  concealed  the  manuscript  in 
his  clothing,  and,  leaving  word  that  he  had  called  to  see 
his  cousin,  but  could  not  longer  await  her  coming,  he 
went  straightway  from  the  house  unto  the  temple  of  Sera- 
pis,  and  requested  an  interview  with  the  high-priest.  And 
having  been  introduced  into  the  audience-chamber  of  the 
high-priest,  whom  he  greeted  with  the  profoundest  obei 
sance,  as  if  addressing  some  superior  being,  he  saith  unto 
him,  "  I  desire  to  know  of  thee  whether  the  laws  now 
allow  the  profession  of  the  iniquitous  and  atheistic  Chris 
tian  faith  in  this  city,  or  in  any  part  of  Egypt  ?" 

And  the  high-priest  answered  :  "No.  The  law  is  still 
in  force  which  requires  the  destruction  of  their  magical 
books,  and  of  their  churches,  and  the  punishment  of  all 
who  refuse  to  sacrifice  unto  the  gods.  But  our  magistrates 
and  people  have  become  careless  and  indifferent  to  these 
wise  and  salutary  laws  which  are  for  the  good  of  religion, 
and  for  the  preservation  of  the  government,  so  that  the 
law  is  not  enforced,  and  even  here  in  Alexandria  this  ille 
gal  and  criminal  association  possess  houses  in  which  they 
secretly  celebrate  their  infamous  rites  and  ceremonies." 

"  Canst  not  thou  cause  the  law  to  be  enforced  if  an 
extreme  case  of  such  crime  should  be  brought  to  thy  no 
tice  ?  " 

"Kecently  a  better  feeling  hath  been  manifested  in 
many  localities,"  replied  the  high-priest.  "Tyrannis,  bish 
op  of  a  church  in  Tyre,  Zenobius,  of  Sidon,  Silvanus,  at 
Emisa,  have  but  lately  paid  with  their  lives  for  the  crime 
of  Christianity,  having  been  cast  unto  the  wild  beasts, 

and    so    destroyed.      Another    Silvanus,    bishop    of    the 
14 


206  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

churches  about  Gaza,  and  thirty-nine  others  with  him, 
have  been  beheaded.  Even  here  in  Egypt,  Peleus  and 
Nilus  have  been  committed  to  the  flames,  and  Pamphilus 
at  Caesarea.  Thou  canst  remember  that  even  in  Alexan 
dria,  Peter  the  bishop,  and  Faustus,  Dius,  and  Ammonius, 
have  been  put  to  death,  and  in  other  parts  of  Egypt, 
Phileus,  Pochumius,  Hesychius,  and  Theodoras,  have  been 
in  various  ways  destroyed.  But  a  false  sentiment  of  hu 
manity  protects  these  criminals ;  for  it  hath  become  a 
common  saying  in  the  city  that  the  superstition  is  a 
harmless  one,  and  that  the  Christians  are  the  most  honest, 
faithful,  and  diligent  servants,  tradesmen,  mechanics,  and 
agents,  that  one  can  employ  ;  and  those  who  cherish  this 
fatal  leniency  for  the  accursed  sect,  themselves  neglect  the 
temple  services,  and  gradually  drift  off  into  atheism.  So 
that  there  is  a  great  indifference  on  the  subject  of  enforc 
ing  the  law  against  these  criminals  ;  yet  I  doubt  not  that, 
if  an  extreme  case  should  occur,  the  people  might  be 
easily  roused  up  to  seize  the  malefactors,  and  the  magis 
trates  would  hardly  dare  to  resist  any  forcible  expression 
of  the  popular  will.  Of  what  case  dost  thou  speak  as  an 
'  extreme '  one  ?  " 

Then  said  Harroun  :  "  There  is  a  man  in  the  city  who 
hath  embraced  this  accursed  superstition,  and  who  owneth 
and  readeth  the  books  of  the  sect  contrary  to  the  law. 
He  was  for  many  years  a  priest  of  our  religion,  and  was 
even  a  high-priest  at  Ombos.  He  hath  by  some  sort  of 
necromancy,  perhaps  by  means  of  his  magical  books,  in 
fatuated  and  attached  unto  himself  a  young  Egyptian 
maiden,  an  orphan  girl,  belonging  to  our  own  ancient  and 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPIS.  207 

honorable  family,  mine  own  cousin,  and  he  keepeth  her 
shut  up  in  her  own  house,  separated  from  her  kindred, 
and  deprived  of  all  the  pleasures  and  advantages  that  natu 
rally  belong  to  a  noble  and  wealthy  maid  of  Alexandria. 
Some  years  ago  he  procured  himself  to  be  appointed  her 
guardian,  and  he  hath  sold  five  houses  that  belonged  to 
her,  and  hath  given  no  account  thereof,  except  to  produce 
the  young  girl's  receipt  therefor,  in  which  she  saith  the 
sale  was  made  at  her  request,  that  she  had  received  the 
price  thereof  from  him,  and  had  used  the  same  for  pious 
purposes. " 

"Why  did  not  her  relatives  interfere  to  prevent  the 
alienation  of  her  estate?" 

"  Her  father  was  shipwrecked  and  lost,  and  we  sup 
posed  that  the  'pious  purposes'  signified  the  use  of  the 
money  to  build  his  sarcophagus  and  propitiate  the  gods, 
with  which,  of  course,  no  one  would  interfere ;  but  this,  I 
lately  discover,  hath  never  been  done,  and  we  suppose  that 
the  man  of  whom  I  speak  hath  persuaded  her  to  use  the 
money  for  the  purpose  of  building  some  temple  or  burial- 
place  for  the  use  of  the  abominable  Christian  association." 

"Who  is  this  man?"  said  the  high-priest. 

"His  name  is  Am-nem-hat." 

"  Am-nem-hat ! "  said  the  high-priest,  in  amazement, 
"I  know  of  the  man:  he  was  high -priest  at  Ombos, 
and,  after  a  long  life  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  gods, 
he  left  his  temple  secretly  to  become  an  eremite  —  a 
great,  and  learned,  and  pious  man  !  Surely  there  must 
be  some  mistake  ! " 

"There  is  no  mistake  about  what  I  have  told   you," 


208  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

said  Harroun,  "for  he  left  the  temple  to  become  a 
Christian,  and,  from  his  manner  of  life,  I  think  is  one 
of  the  fearful  sect  called  Therapeutae." 

"Hast  thou  any  proof  that  he  hath  become  a  Chris 
tian?" 

The  youth  drew  forth  from  his  clothing  the  Gospel 
written  by  John,  saying :  "  Here  is  one  of  the  magical 
books  of  the  Christians  which  no  reasonable  man  under- 
standeth.  I  found  this  in  Am-nem-hat's  own  chair,  in 
his  room,  and  on  the  back  thereof  is  the  indorsement, 
*  Am-nem-hat  of  Ombos. '  He  will  not  deny  that  he  is  a 
Christian  if  charged  with  that  crime.  For  they  never 
deny  it  when  they  are  guilty  thereof." 

"This  is  an  extreme  case,"  said  the  high-priest. 
"Besides  the  corruption  of  youth  and  the  plundering  of 
this  young  girl  of  which  thou  speakest,  it  is  an  enor 
mous  sacrilege  for  a  priest  to  abandon  his  religion,  but 
infinitely  worse  when  he  leaveth  religion  and  adopteth 
the  accursed  and  inhuman  Christian  superstition.  Leave 
that  book  with  me  and  go  thy  way,  but  fail  not  to  point 
out  the  house  when  the  proper  time  shall  come." 

The  young  man  took  out  his  purse,  and  placed  a 
liberal  sum  upon  the  table,  saying :  "  This  is  for  proper 
prayers  and  offerings  for  thy  success ;  but  remember  that 
the  deluded  young  girl,  my  cousin  Theckla,  must  not  be 
in  any  way  molested." 

"Assuredly,"  answered  the  high-priest,  "her  near 
kinship  to  thine  own  ancient,  honorable,  and  devout  fam 
ily  will  be  her  protection,  and  I  promise  thee  to  reclaim 
her  from  the  delusion  which  the  witchcraft  of  this  rene- 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE   OF  SERAPIS.  209 

gade  priest  hath  brought  upon  her.  As  for  this  man 
who  hath  so  dishonored  the  ancient  religion  of  the  land 
of  Kem,  and  who  might  by  reason  of  his  former  lofty 
character  seduce  much  people  from  allegiance  to  the 
gods,  this  man  shall  surely  die." 

Then  for  a  few  days  there  was  a  great  running  to 
and  fro  among  the  pagan  priests  throughout  the  city, 
and  especially  among  those  who  were  connected  with  the 
great  temple  of  Serapis.  Great  processions  were  had,  at 
different  places,  in  honor  of  various  gods,  the  people 
were  vehemently  exhorted  to  greater  diligence  in  their 
worship,  and  the  Christians  were  vehemently  denounced, 
so  that  there  was  an  uproar  throughout  Rhacotis,  and 
crowds  of  people  rioting  through  the  streets,  accompanied 
by  squads  of  soldiers,  and  seeking  for  the  dwellings  of 
those  who  were  suspected  of  being  Christians.  And,  in 
the  language  of  the  historian  of  those  times  :  "A  certain 
prophet  and  poet,  inauspicious  to  the  city,  whoever  he 
was,  excited  the  mass  of  the  heathen  against  us,  stirring 
them  up  to  their  native  superstition.  Stimulated  by 
him,  and  taking  full  liberty  of  exercising  any  kind  of 
wickedness,  they  considered  this  the  only  piety  and  the 
worship  of  their  demons — viz.,  to  slay  us.  First,  then, 
seizing  a  certain  aged  man  named  Mitra,  they  called 
upon  him  to  utter  impious  expressions,  and,  as  he  did 
not  obey,  they  beat  his  body  with  clubs,  and  pricked  his 
face  and  eyes ;  after  which  they  led  him  away  to  the 
suburbs,  where  they  stoned  him.  Next  they  led  a  woman 
called  Quinta,  who  was  a  believer,  to  the  temple  of  an 
idol,  and  attempted  to  force  her  to  worship ;  but,  when 


210  ARITJS  THE  LIBYAN. 

she  turned  away  in  disgust,  they  tied  her  by  the  feet  and 
dragged  her  through  the  whole  city,  and  over  the  rough 
stones  of  the  paved  streets,  dashing  her  against  the  mill 
stones,  and  scourging  her  at  the  same  time,  until  they 
brought  her  to  the  same  place,  when  they  stoned  her. 
Then,  with  one  accord,  they  all  rushed  upon  the  houses 
of  the  pious,  and  whomsoever  of  their  neighbors  they 
knew,  they  drove  thither  in  all  haste,  and  despoiled  and 
plundered  them,  setting  apart  the  more  valuable  articles 
for  themselves,  but  the  more  common  and  wooden  furni 
ture  threw  about  and  burned  in  the  roads,  presenting  a 
sight  like  a  city  taken  by  the  enemy.  But  the  brethren 
retired  and  gave  way,  and,  like  those  to  whom  Paul  bears 
witness,  they  also  regarded  the  plunder  of  their  goods 
with  joy." 

And,  on  the  third  evening  of  this  rioting  against  the 
Christians,  a  crowd  of  people,  with  soldiers,  assembled 
about  the  vast  temple  of  Serapis,  and  the  high-priest 
harangued  them  against  the  Christians,  and  especially 
against  Am-nem-hat,  whom  he  called  the  renegade  of 
Ombos,  a  seducer  of  youth,  and  a  plunderer  of  orphans ; 
and,  the  house  having  been  pointed  out  unto  them, 
the  mob  surged  thitherward,  yelling  and  shouting,  and 
calling  upon  their  idols  for  vengeance  against  the  Chris 
tians,  and  chiefly  against  Am-nem-hat,  the  renegade  of 
Ombos.  And  they  struck  with  violence  upon  the  door, 
insomuch  that  the  domestics  were  frightened,  and  the 
old  man  himself  opened  the  door  and  said  unto  them, 
"What  seek  ye?" 

And  they   yelled  out :   "  We   seek  Am-nem-hat,  the 


BEFORE  THE   TEMPLE   OF  SERAPI8.  211 

traitor  to  the  gods  !  Am-nem-hat,  the  renegade  high-priest 
of  Ombos  ! " 

And,  as  soon  as  their  clamor  somewhat  ceased,  he  said, 
"I  am  Am-nem-hat  of  Ombos." 

And  when  they  saw  the  man's  great  age,  and  his  calm 
and  dignified  deportment,  they  were  somewhat  abashed, 
and  they  cried  out,  "It  is  reported  that  thou  hast  for 
saken  the  ancient  gods  of  the  Nile,  and  that  thou  hast 
fallen  away  into  the  atheism  of  the  Christians." 

Then  the  old  man  stood  up  straight  and  glorious  be 
fore  them,  and  he  said  :  "  Children,  for  fifty  years  I  was 
in  the  great  temple  of  Thebes,  and  was  long  time  a  priest. 
Twenty-and-five  years  I  was  high-priest  at  Ombos,  always 
seeking  for  the  truth.  Then  I  discovered  that  the  Chris 
tians  alone  know  and  worship  the  one  true  God,  and  I  am 
with  all  my  heart,  soul,  mind,  and  strength,  a  Christian  ! 
Children,  seek  ye  the  same  divine  truth  ;  the  same  glorious 
forgiveness,  faith  and  light ;  the  same  redeeming  love." 

And  he  would  truly  have  borne  further  testimony  for 
Jesus,  but  from  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd  the  high-priest 
shouted  :  "  Away  with  this  blasphemer  !  To  the  stake 
with  the  old  renegade  ! "  And  the  mob  echoed  the  cry, 
shouting  out  vehemently:  "Away  with  the  atheist !  To 
the  stake  with  the  ancient  traitor ! "  And  one  of  them 
standing  near  knocked  down  the  old  man  with  his  pike  ; 
and,  as  many  of  them  sprang  forward  to  seize  him,  Theck- 
la  darted  out  of  the  door  to  his  side,  and  with  blazing 
eyes  and  extended  hands  she  cried  :  "  0  cowards  !  brutes  ! 
The  disgrace  of  Egypt,  to  strike  down  an  old  man  like 
that!  Stand  back!" 


212  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

And  the  men  seemed  abashed  at  the  words  and  manner  of 
the  beautiful  young  girl,  and  stood  irresolute  until  the  high- 
priest  called  out,  "  Perhaps  thou,  also,  art  a  Christian  ?  " 

And  she  said  :  "  Yea  !  thank  God,  I  am  ! " 

Then  all  the  more  they  shouted  :  "  To  the  stake  with 
the  old  atheist !  The  corrupter  of  our  youth  ! " 

And  they  forcibly  pushed  the  maiden  aside,  and 
they  lifted  up  Am-nem-hat,  and  set  him  upon  his  feet, 
and  the  soldiers  haled  him  away  to  the  vacant  space 
in  front  of  the  great  temple  of  Serapis,  where  were  set 
up  iron  columns  to  which  the  wealthy  visitors  thereto 
were  wont  to  hitch  the  horses  that  drew  their  chariots. 
And  they  chained  the  old  man  fast  to  one  of  these, 
and  soon  they  built  a  great  pyre  round  him  out  of  the 
furniture  of  which  they  plundered  Theckla's  house,  and 
other  houses  of  Christians  on  that  street.  And  they  did 
set  fire  unto  the  pile,  and  by  the  first  flames  thereof 
Theckla  beheld  the  calm  and  shining  face  of  the  beloved 
ancient  gazing  peacefully  upon  the  mob.  Then  they 
lighted  it  in  other  places,  and  the  girl  went  near  to  the 
edge  of  the  fire,  and  she  cried  aloud  :  "Be  thou  of  good 
cheer,  0  father  Am-nem-hat !  Thy  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  be  with  thee  now  ! " 

"  Yea,  daughter  Theckla,"  answered  the  old  man. 
"  But  go  thou  hence  !  The  Lord  is  all-sufficient  unto  me  ! 
Go  thou  in  peace  ! " 

Then  Theckla  fell  upon  her  knees  before  them  all  and 
prayed  aloud,  saying  :  "  0  Jesus,  Son  of  God,  have  mercy 
upon  him  !  Comfort,  sustain,  and  strengthen  him,  and 
receive  him  into  glory  ! " 


BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPI8.  213 

And,  while  she  prayed,  the  fire  grew  fiercer,  and  spread 
all  over  the  dry,  combustible  furniture  of  which  the  pyre 
was  build  ed.  And,  while  she  was  praying,  a  strong  centu 
rion  came  unto  her,  bearing  some  incense  in  his  hand, 
and  he  said :  "  Thou  invokest  the  accursed  Galilean  for 
him,  and  seekest  by  thy  strong  magic  to  harden  him 
against  the  flame  !  Take  thou  of  this  incense,  girl,  and 
cast  it  into  the  fire  to  Jupiter,  cursing  the  malefactor 
Christ,  or  thou  shalt  quickly  follow  the  old  renegade  ! " 

Then  she  only  prayed  the  more ;  and  the  man  called 
another  to  him,  and  they  seized  the  young  girl,  and, 
swinging  her  back  and  forth  between  them,  so  cast  her 
through  the  circle  of  fire  unto  Am-nem-hat.  And  she 
arose  and  stood  up  beside  him,  and  threw  her  arms  about 
the  old  man's  neck,  and  did  kiss  him  lovingly,  and  leaned 
her  head  upon  the  old  man's  breast,  and  smiled  upon 
him  radiantly.  And  the  idolaters  being  the  more  enraged, 
because  they  twain  seemed  to  scorn  the  flames,  piled  yet 
other  furniture  and  wood  against  them,  until  the  greatness 
thereof  hid  them  from  view  ;  and  with  a  last  farewell, 
commending  themselves  and  Arius  unto  God,  they  breathed 
the  cruel  flames,  and  so  died.  But  the  pagans  continued 
to  pile  on  fuel  until  they  were  utterly  consumed  ;  and  the 
high-priest,  coming  near,  cast  into  the  flame  the  manu 
script  of  the  Gospel  of  John,  saying,  "The  law  requireth 
all  books  of  the  Christians  to  be  burned  "  ;  and  the  crowd 
pillaged  the  house,  and  found  yet  other  sacred  writings, 
which  they  brought  and  cast  into  the  flames ;  and  there 
were  destroyed  the  original  Epistles  of  John,  which  Theck- 
la  had  copied  for  Arius. 


214  ARIUS   THE   LIBYAN. 

Now  when  the  centurion  and  the  soldier  seized  upon 
Theckla  to  cast  her  into  the  fire,  a  young  man  ran  for 
ward  from  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  shouting  in  terror 
and  in  agony,  "  Not  her !  centurion,  not  her  ! " 

But  the  act  was  sudden,  and  before  he  could  reach 
them,  and  before  they  heard  his  cries,  it  was  done,  and 
the  girl  was  leaning  on  the  breast  of  Am-nem-hat.  And 
the  youth  fainted,  and,  with  a  wail  of  anguish,  fell  heav 
ily  upon  his  face  along  the  ground.  And  the  high-priest, 
seeing  from  his  apparel  that  he  was  a  man  of  rank, 
leaped  forward,  and  raised  up  his  head,  and,  looking  upon 
his  face,  he  saw  that  it  was  Harroun. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

CEUCIFIED   UNTO  THE  WORLD. 

ABIUS  having  been  joyfully  ordained  to  be  a  presby 
ter,  and  being  uninformed  of  the  martyrdom  of  Am- 
nem-hat  and  of  Theckla,  with  gladness  of  heart  and 
bright  anticipations  of  coming  happiness  reached  the  city 
of  Alexandria,  and  went  first  of  all,  as  his  duty  was,  to 
Peter,  the  bishop,  whose  return  from  Antioch  had  briefly 
preceded  his  own  arrival.  And,  after  the  usual  saluta 
tions  had  passed  between  them,  the  bishop,  looking  ten 
derly  upon  him,  said :  "  Son,  thou  hast  been  ordained 
a  presbyter,  and  hast  been  consecrated  to  the  Mas 
ter's  service,  and  the  Bishop  Lucanius  highly  extolleth 
thy  fitness  for  the  holy  office.  But  thou  art  young,  my 
son,  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  a  heavy  cross  upon  thee. 
Hast  thou  received  any  recent  news  from  our  unfortu 
nate  city  of  Alexandria?" 

"The  last  news  I  received  was  borne  by  thee  when 
thou  didst  come  unto  Antioch  bringing  a  letter  from  my 
betrothed,  and  that  from  the  community,  and  the  casket 
containing  the  perfect  and  beautiful  copies  of  the  sacred 
writings  which  Theckla  wrote  with  her  own  hand  for 
me.  Why  dost  thou  ask  so  seriously?" 


216  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  I  did  only  precede  thee  by  three  days,  my  son ;  but 
upon  my  arrival  heard  the  news  of  a  sudden  outbreak  of 
persecution  in  which  many  of  the  pious  were  perfected, 
and  their  goods  despoiled,  the  recital  whereof  will  pierce 
thy  heart.  Thine  old  friend  Am-nem-hat  did  bravely 
testify  for  Jesus  even  in  the  midst  of  the  flame  by  which 
he  was  made  perfect." 

"I  loved  him  much,"  said  Arius,  "and  his  long  life 
hath  ended  gloriously  ! "  Then  a  ghastly  pallor  came  over 
the  young  man's  cheek  and  lip,  and  he  could  only  mur 
mur,  "And  Theckla,  bishop?" 

"Son,"  said  the  bishop,  tenderly,  "thy  beautiful 
Theckla  was  also  a  perfect  witness  for  our  Lord  at  the 
same  time  and  place  with  the  ancient  Am-nem-hat." 
Then  bowed  the  youth  his  head  upon  his  hands,  and 
writhings  as  of  some  mortal  agony  swept  over  him. 

"Son,"  said  old  Peter,  tearfully,  "canst  thou  not  say, 
*  He  doeth  all  things  well,  and  blessed  be  his  name '  ? " 

"  Not  yet !  not  yet ! "  sobbed  out  the  broken-hearted 
man;  "but  give  unto  me  the  key  of  the  church  Bau- 
calis  ! " 

And  the  bishop  called  a  young  deacon  unto  him,  and 
bade  him  take  the  key  and  guide  the  youthful  presbyter 
unto  that  church.  And  in  silence  the  sorely-smitten  man 
followed  his  guide  until  they  had  reached  the  door  of 
the  beautiful  church  ;  then  said  Arius  unto  him  :  "  Thou 
mayst  return.  Farewell ! " 

And  Arius  opened  the  door  and  passed  within,  and 
locked  the  door  behind  him.  And  it  was  twilight ;  and 
the  full  moon  shed  a  soft  and  mellow  light  through  the 


CRUCIFIED  UNTO  THE  WORLD.  217 

vast  area  of  the  sacred  room ;  and,  not  far  off,  the  gentle 
waves  of  the  sea  gleamed  in  the  golden  sheen,  and  lapsed 
away  along  the  quiet  coast. 

Back  and  forth,  along  the  great  aisle,  with  slow  and 
heavy  footsteps — back  and  forth,  until  the  long  night 
waned  away,  and  the  muffled  tread  of  the  sufferer  seemed 
to  become  regular,  unceasing,  continuous,  as  part  of  the 
very  course  of  nature  itself — all  night  long,  back  and 
forth,  wrestling  sorely  with  his  sudden,  mighty  grief,  the 
young  man  trod  the  desolate  aisle,  and  his  bosom  heaved 
with  anguish,  but  not  a  single  word  escaped  his  com 
pressed,  ashy  lips.  The  first  faint  light  of  dawn  mottled 
the  eastern  sky ;  then  the  glad  sunlight  streamed  far  out 
along  the  peaceful  sea,  and  the  freshness  of  the  morning 
laughed  from  earth  and  heaven.  Then  went  he  slowly 
unto  a  window  opening  unto  the  east,  and  the  sun  was 
rising  gloriously,  and  then  the  man  raised  up  his  right 
hand  reverently,  and,  gazing  away  into  the  glowing  heav 
ens,  with  trembling  lips  and  broken  heart,  he  murmured  : 
"  Yea !  He  doeth  all  things  well ;  and  blessed  be  his 
name ! " 

But  the  first  great  sorrow  of  his  life  had  fallen  upon 
him ;  that  which  ages  a  man  in  a  single  day  ;  that  which 
breaketh  off  and  casteth  far  from  him  all  the  brightness 
and  freshness  of  his  youth  forever,  and  setteth  him 
henceforth  face  to  face  with  the  hard  and  bitter  realities 
of  life,  making  all  of  the  beautiful  past  only  a  dim  and 
blessed  memory  of  happiness,  the  light  and  sweetness 
whereof  his  lip  shall  taste  no  more  on  earth. 

The  youth  was  a  man  now ;  tried  in  the  furnace  of 


218  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

affliction  ;  exercised  by  grief  ;  strengthened  and  hardened 
and  chastened  by  the  bitter  cup  of  woe. 

Quietly  he  departed  from  the  church  ;  with  calm, 
unfaltering  tread  he  went  back  unto  the  bishop  ;  and 
then  unwaveringly  he  asked  for,  and  unflinchingly  heard, 
the  pathetic  details  of  the  martyrdom.  And  the  kind- 
hearted  old  man  said  unto  him  :  "  Son,  thou  triest  thy 
heart  too  bitterly.  If  thou  desirest  to  be  alone,  I  can 
give  thee  a  room  unto  thyself,  and  thou  canst  abide 
quietly  with  me  until  thou  shalt  feel  better  able  to  assume 
thy  pastoral  charge." 

"  I  thank  thee  much,  bishop,  for  thou  art  very  kind. 
But  God  forbid  that  private  grief  should  ever  keep  me 
from  a  sacred  task  !  I  will  even  preach  to  my  people  in 
the  Baucalis  church  this  morning.  For  I  know" — and 
then  the  right  hand  momently  began  its  rhythmic  move 
ment,  the  mesmeric  light  gleamed  in  his  somber  eyes,  the 
strong,  bold  head  sprang  forward  upon  the  lithe,  serpen 
tine  neck,  and,  with  a  light,  plaintive  hiss  in  every  tone 
that  cut  through  the  hearer's  heart,  he  continued — "for 
I  know  that  Theckla  would  even  have  it  so  if  she  could 
counsel  me." 

The  good  old  bishop  sprang  toward  and  embraced 
him,  crying  out:  "My  son!  my  son!  Thou  art  of  the 
splendid  stuff  of  which  God  maketh  martyrs  !  May  he 
console  and  comfort  thee,  and  feed  thee  with  the  bread  of 
everlasting  life  ! " 

For  the  bishop  saw  in  his  haggard  countenance  the 
ineffaceable  traces  of  his  mighty  struggle  with  that  night 
long  agony ;  he  saw  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  im- 


CRUCIFIED  UNTO  THE  WORLD.  219 

perious  will  that  wearied  down  the  complainings  of  an 
aching  heart ;  and  the  clear,  resolute  soul  that  fixed  its 
eye  upon  the  path  of  Christian  duty,  not  to  be  swerved 
therefrom  by  any  earthly  agency,  and  ready  to  immolate 
even  its  sacred  hours  of  grief  for  the  sake  of  other 
souls. 

Henceforth  the  fair  forms  of  youth,  and  love,  and 
hope,  would  pass  him  by  upon  life's  lonely  pilgrimage 
almost  unrecognized — strangers  to  him  except  for  some 
far-off,  heart-broken  memories.  Henceforth  upon  his 
chastened  hearing  the  voices  of  honor  and  ambition  would 
fall  unheeded  as  the  sounding  brass  or  the  tinkling  cym 
bal  !  Only  when  the  stern,  cold  face  of  Duty  might  meet 
his  gaze,  henceforth,  his  spirit  would  look  up  and  say  : 
"  I  know  thee.  Welcome  here  !  "  Only  when  the  shrink 
ing  forms  of  human  sorrow,  and  pain,  and  wretchedness, 
should  henceforth  claim  his  sympathy,  his  soul  would 
reach  forth  ministering  hands  and  say :  "  Ye  are  old 
friends  of  mine  !  I  welcome  you  !  " 

And  he  did  preach  in  the  Baucalis  church,  that  very 
norning,  a  sermon  which  was  never  forgotten  by  those 
vho  heard  it.     "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,"  he 
xclaimed  ;  then  in  words  that  leaped,  and  flashed,  and 
;linted,  ringing  distinct  as  bell-notes,  yet  all  flowing  in  a 
trong,  even,  jubilant  current  unto  a  definite  purpose,  he 
3t  before  them  the  loftiest  form  and  manner  in  which 
)ve  hath  ever  showed  its  power  and  beauty,  in  the  best 
sories  of  pagan  mythology  and  history,  in  high  and  glori 
as  examples  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  from 
lurch  history,  all  brought  out  like  pictures  before  the 


220  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

mind,  and  above  them  all  he  glorified  and  magnified  that 
love  divine  of  Jesus  ;  then  how  we  are  bound,  constrained 
thereby ;  unto  what  end ;  and,  finally,  that  the  necessary 
result  of  this  bondage  to  Christ  is  absolute  freedom  as  to 
all  other  authority  upon  earth,  higher  than  any  natural 
courage  or  Stoic  philosophy  could  confer.  But  there  was 
not  even  the  remotest  reference  to  his  private  sorrow.  All 
of  them  had  known  Theckla,  and  the  covenant  between 
her  and  Arius,  and  the  building  of  the  church  for  him, 
and  the  transcribing  of  the  scriptures  for  him  by  her 
hand ;  and  all  of  their  hearts  had  yearned  after  him  in 
sympathizing  sorrow  ;  but  not  one  word  of  self  even  inad 
vertently  found  utterance  in  his  clear,  cold,  steel-like 
exegesis  of  the  truth,  or  in  the  copious,  affluent  stream 
of  exhortation  and  comfort.  He  had  come  to  minister 
unto  them,  not  to  be  ministered  unto  by  them ;  he  had 
come  to  help  them  bear  all  things,  with  clear  eyes  to  see, 
with  open  heart  to  feel  and  share,  with  strong,  resolute, 
uncomplaining  spirit  to  bear  all  of  their  sorrows  and  trials ; 
his  own  to  be  sealed  up  in  his  own  soul,  buried  out  of 
human  sight  forever.  He  took  all  (hearts  by  storm  :  in 
stinctively  they  felt  that  this  young  man  was  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  every  good  work ;  they  could  rely  upon 
him,  they  could  trust  him  under  all  circumstances,  in  any 
emergency.  An  old  Christian  in  the  congregation,  who 
had  been  a  Roman  officer  for  many  years  before  his  conver 
sion,  and  had  faced  every  form  of  death  upon  the  battle 
field,  whispered  to  the  friend  next  to  him  :  "  What  a  splen 
did  commander  he  would  have  made  !  He  is  the  bravest 
man  I  ever  saw,  for,  if  there  had  been  a  streak  of  weakness, 


CRUCIFIED  UNTO  THE  WORLD.  221 

or  cowardice,  or  selfishness  in  his  nature,  he  could  not  have 
buried  his  own  grief  out  of  sight,  and  put  his  whole  heart 
into  his  work  as  he  hath  done." 

It  was  so  through  all  the  services  of  that  first  day. 
Quiet,  grave,  courteous,  he  discharged  every  duty  of  his 
position  without  the  slightest  reference  to  his  own  feelings 
or  trials.  For,  during  that  night  of  awful  sorrow,  he  had 
fully  settled  all  his  earthly  life.  Henceforth  the  church  at 
Baucalis  was  to  be  his  home  ;  the  community  that  might 
worship  there,  his  family ;  he  was,  henceforth,  to  have  no 
griefs,  ambitions,  trials  of  his  own  ;  no  hopes,  no  fears  ; 
he  was  to  bear  the  burdens  of  others  ;  to  love,  guide,  coun 
sel,  and  strengthen  the  souls  intrusted  to  his  care  ;  to 
do  a  minister's  work,  that  is,  a  spiritual  servant's  work, 
so  long  as  life  might  last,  and  to  wait  patiently,  uncom 
plainingly,  without  disquietude  or  bitterness  of  spirit,  if 
possible  with  gladness,  until  the  end  might  come.  Such 
was  the  destiny  he  had  mapped  out  for  himself  during  that 
night  of  bitter  anguish  in  the  beautiful  church  ;  such  was 
the  destiny  that  upon  the  next  morning,  with  grand,  sim 
ple,  unselfish  faith  and  courage,  he  arose  to  meet. 

The  thoroughness  of  this  profound  self-abnegation  was 
exhibited  on  the  night  succeeding  that  first  day's  labors, 
when,  in  the  solitude  of  his  own  apartment,  he  took  from 
out  its  cedar  casket  the  beautiful  manuscript  which 
Theckla's  hand  had  lovingly  prepared  for  him,  and  made 
an  indorsement  thereon,  in  the  Arabic  tongue,  that  it  had 
been  transcribed  by  Theckla,  a  noble  Egyptian  lady,  who 
also  was  a  martyr  in  Alexandria.  But  he  did  not  write 

that  it  was  transcribed  for  him  ;   his  name  nowhere  ap- 
15 


222  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

pears  on  any  part  of  the  manuscript ;  there  is  not  a  word 
or  sign  that  can  by  any  possibility  connect  his  name  or 
fate  with  hers.  Arius  seemed  to  him  to  have  been  slain 
and  buried  long  ago ;  only  God's  presbyter  survived  the 
ruin  of  his  life,  and  stood  up  in  the  place  of  Arius,  calm, 
strong,  fearless,  unselfish,  and  devout. 

And  this  great  manuscript,  which  was  the  offering  of 
Tbeckla's  love  unto  him,  hath  survived  the  lapse  of  ages, 
bearing  yet  upon  its  priceless  pages  the  indorsement  of 
Arius.  It  is  known  throughout  Christendom  as  the  "  CO 
DEX  ALEXANDBINUS  " — "  A  "  of  the  British  Museum,  al 
though  some  later  writings  have  been  blended  therewith, 
and  some  of  the  manuscripts  prepared  by  Theckla  have 
been  lost. 


BOOK  II. 
CHAPTER    I. 

"HIS   MOST  CATHOLIC   MAJESTY." 

THE  historians,  secular  and  ecclesiastic,  have  alike 
failed  to  do  justice  to  the  vast  abilities  of  Constantine 
the  Great.  Those  who  have  questioned  his  superiority 
to  all  other  Roman  emperors  (if,  indeed,  not  to  all  other 
men)  have  united  in  ascribing  to  accident,  to  the  mere 
drifting  of  events,  facts  which  were  really  the  forecastings 
of  profoundest  statesmanship,  guided  by  a  political  sa 
gacity  that  pierced  through  to  the  very  core  of  the  whole 
social  and  religious  life  of  the  vast  empire  over  which 
he  ruled,  almost  untroubled  by  the  influences  of  human 
passions,  fears,  and  faith.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  have  felt  constrained  to  give  even  the  slightest  cre 
dence  to  his  alleged  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  have 
attributed  to  religious  zeal,  enthusiasm,  or  fears,  the  most 
salient  actions  of  a  life  that  was,  from  beginning  to  end, 
dominated  only  by  the  lust  for  dominion,  incapable  of 
any  creed  but  atheism,  and  absolutely  content  with  the 
negation  of  the  existence  of  any  Being  greater  than  him- 


224  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

self.  To  those  who  take  a  more  rational  view  of  his 
magnificent  but  criminal  career,  and  who,  looking  be 
hind  the  mask  of  reverence  for  paganism  which  he  cast 
aside  at  precisely  the  politic  moment,  in  order  to  assume 
a  false  pretense  of  reverence  for  Christianity,  discern 
the  cool,  deliberate  atheist,  who  was  ready  to  profess  any 
creed  and  foster  any  superstition  that  might  best  serve 
to  smooth  the  road  to  absolute  power,  and  make  man 
kind  his  slaves:  to  them  the  astute  politician,  the  suc 
cessful  warrior,  the  consummate  ruler  of  men,  assumes 
such  colossal  proportions  that,  compared  with  him,  Alex 
ander,  Caesar,  and  Napoleon,  seem  to  sink  into  the  lower 
grade  of  butchers  and  stabbers,  only  half-taught  in  the 
science  of  government,  of  which  Constantino  alone  was 
master.  For  it  is  no  more  certain  that  he  despised  and 
pitied  paganism  while  he  was  solemnly  offering  sacrifices 
to  Jupiter,  and  winning  the  admiration  and  love  of  the 
Roman  world  for  his  imperial  piety,  than  it  is  certain 
that  he  pitied  and  despised  the  Church  of  Christ,  even 
while  he  was  manipulating  the  faith  into  a  sure  and 
reliable  support  of  the  empire ;  in  both  courses  he  only 
played  with  the  world,  giving  men  any  religious  toy  which 
the  greater  part  might  prefer  to  have,  in  exchange  for  the 
liberty  of  which  he  robbed  them  so  plausibly  and  suc 
cessfully  that  they  scarcely  perceived  his  theft,  and  en 
thusiastically  caressed  the  royal  thief. 

The  Christians  of  that  age  died  at  the  stake,  or  by 
the  sword,  or  by  wild  beasts,  rather  than  to  cast  a  pinch 
of  incense  into  the  sacred  fires  and  say,  "  Proh  Jupiter  !  " 
The  pagans  would  have  plunged  into  civil  war,  and  would 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  225 

have  endured  or  inflicted  any  pain,  rather  than  acknowl 
edge  any  feeling  for  Christ  except  hatred,  loathing,  and 
contempt.  But  Constantine  both  adopted  the  cross  as  a 
military  standard,  and  also  observed  the  heathen  rites 
with  customary  ostentation  and  solemnity ;  having  abso 
lutely  no  conscientious  scruples  for  or  against  any  re 
ligion  ;  regarding  both  the  old  and  the  new  faiths  as 
things  proper  enough  for  common  men,  but  altogether 
indifferent  to  him ;  and  using  both  alike  as  mere  instru 
ments  convenient  for  the  advancement  of  his  own  politi 
cal  purposes. 

After  he  had  defeated  Maxentius  at  the  Milvian 
Bridge,  he  caused  his  own  statue  to  be  erected  at  Rome ; 
and,  while  the  general  design  and  execution  of  the  work 
were  unexceptionable  to  his  pagan  subjects,  the  image  bore 
in  its  hand  the  symbol  of  the  cross,  which,  until  that 
day,  had  been  esteemed  to  be  a  badge  of  crime  and  in 
famy,  as  disgraceful  to  any  Roman  as  the  lewd  Priapi 
of  the  gardens  could  have  been  to  the  Christians ;  and 
the  thanksgiving  which  he  offered  to  commemorate  his 
victory  was  couched  in  such  enigmatical  terms  that  in 
applying  it  to  Mars  or  Jupiter,  the  pagan  did  no  more 
violence  to  the  text  than  the  Christian  would  do  in  as- 
scribing  it  to  Christ  and  God.  So,  when,  to  please  the 
Christians,  he  decreed  the  solemn  observance  of  Sunday,  he 
inspired  the  pagans  with  confidence  and  respect,  by  call 
ing  the  sacred  day  Dies  Solis  (the  Day  of  the  Sun),  a 
formula  of  heathendom  with  which  they  had  been  famil 
iar  all  their  lives. 

Utterly  devoid  of  faith  in  anything  else  except  himself 


226  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

and  his  own  destiny,  unyielding  in  that  ambition  to  exer 
cise  dominion  which  nerved  him  for  the  doubtful  war 
against  Maxentius,  he  regarded  both  mankind  and  religion 
with  pity  and  contempt,  and  sought  to  rule  men  for  their 
good  and  his  own  glory,  by  means  of  any  faith  which  they 
might  prefer ;  and  hence,  as  Christianity  became  more 
known  and  popular,  he  identified  himself  with  it  more  and 
more,  only  in  order  to  foster  an  agency  which  seemed  to  be 
available  in  the  work  of  consolidating  the  warring  factions 
of  the  empire  and  securing  the  permanency  of  his  throne. 
But  the  gospel  of  love  and  peace  over  which  he  extended 
the  imperial  protection  did  not  deter  him  from  exter 
minating  the  whole  race  of  Maxentius  after  he  had  de 
feated  him  in  battle  ;  nor  from  the  deliberate  and  politic 
murder  of  Maximin,  who  was  the  father  of  Fausta  his 
wife,  and  who  had  been  the  benefactor  of  his  father  Con- 
stantius ;  nor  from  the  destruction  of  his  wife  herself, 
nor  of  his  sons ;  nor  from  the  assassination  of  the  Em 
peror  Licinius  and  his  son,  the  offspring  of  his  sister  Con- 
stantia — crimes  so  infamous  and  unnecessary  that  the  first 
spark  of  real  animosity  against  the  gods  of  Rome  that 
ever  flashed  across  the  serene  and  boundless  depths  of  his 
almost  superhuman  intelligence  gleamed  for  a  moment 
past  his  consummate  and  life-long  duplicity  when  the 
pagan  priests  refused  all  expiation  for  such  crimes  ;  and  be 
turned  away  more  decidedly  to  a  religion  which  promises 
pardon  for  every  sin  :  not  that  he  cared  anything  for  the 
sacred  rites  of  either  church  ;  but  because  he  was  the  first 
Roman  ruler  to  attach  any  definite  meaning  to  the  words 
"public  opinion,"  and  he  desired  to  maintain  the  confi- 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  227 

dence  of  his  people,  and  also  to  secure  the  full  benefit  of 
those  crimes  which  he  committed  to  place  his  own  au 
thority  beyond  the  reach  of  accident. 

So  thoroughly  indifferent  to  all  sense  of  religion  was 
this  greatest  of  the  rulers  of  mankind  that  dissimulation 
was  an  easy  task  which  involved  no  conscientious  scruples 
of  any  kind  ;  and  was  so  gracefully  and  perfectly  enacted 
that  even  Eusebius,  the  father  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
himself  no  ordinary  man,  was  for  a  long  time  very  thor 
oughly  deceived  into  believing  that  the  atheistic  emperor 
was  God's  vicegerent  for  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
Church  on  earth.  "  Constantine,  therefore,  in  the  very 
commencement"  (says  Eusebius),  " being  proclaimed  su 
preme  emperor  and  Augustus  by  the  soldiers,  and  much 
longer  before  this  by  the  universal  sovereign,  God — Con 
stantine,  the  protector  of  the  good,  combining  his  hatred  of 
wickedness  with  the  love  of  goodness,  went  forth  with  his 
son  Crispus,  the  most  benevolent  Caesar,  to  extend  a  caring 
arm  to  all  them  that  were  perishing.  Both,  therefore,  the 
father  and  the  son,  having,  as  it  were,  God  the  Universal 
King  and  his  Son,  our  Saviour,  as  their  leader  and  aid, 
drawing  up  the  army  on  all  sides  against  the  enemies  of 
God,  bore  away  an  easy  victory."  "With  choirs  and 
hymns,"  says  Eusebius,  "  in  the  cities  and  villages,  at  the 
same  time  they  celebrated  and  extolled  first  of  all  God  the 
Universal  King,  because  they  were  thus  taught ;  then  they 
also  celebrated  the  praises  of  the  pious  emperor,  and  with 
him  all  his  divinely-favored  children,"  including  Crispus 
Caesar  whom  he  caused  to  be  murdered  afterward. 

Only  the  lone  and  incorruptible  seer  of  Patmos,  John 


228  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

the  Divine,  foresaw  the  mighty  pagan  in  his  real  character, 
and  depicted  him  in  words  of  scathing  denunciation  and 
rebuke  which  the  prostituted  Church-  then  failed  to  under 
stand  when  the  things  were  transacted  before  her  eyes — a 
prophetic  and  apocalyptic  view  of  Constantine  and  Con 
stantinople  which  becomes  of  easier  interpretation  as  the 
centuries  glide  away,  revealing  more  and  more  clearly  what 
things  John  foretold,  that  were  to  follow  upon  the  subver 
sion  of  Christianity  by  the  most  potent  human  enemy  that 
Jesus  ever  had,  and  locating  the  seat  of  Antichrist  upon 
seven  hills  above  the  sea  to  which  the  commerce  of  the 
world  resorted — a  description  inapplicable  to  any  capital 
on  earth  except  the  city  of  Constantinople. 

The  tentative  effort  made  by  Constantine  in  312  and 
313,  when  he  had  used  the  influence  of  the  Christians 
against  Maxentius,  had  proved  entirely  successful,  and  the 
great  ruler  at  once  began  to  make  inquiries  to  ascertain 
to  what  extent  the  same  faith  might  prevail  throughout 
the  Empire  of  the  East,  and  how  far  he  might  depend 
upon  its  aid  in  subverting  the  sovereign  power  of  Licin- 
ius,  who  then  reigned  over  the  Eastern  Empire.  For, 
upon  the  death  of  Diocletian,  Constantius  and  Galerius 
had  parted  the  empire  between  themselves  in  accordance 
with  the  emperor's  will,  dividing  both  the  provinces 
and  the  legions,  which  was  the  first  division  of  Koman 
sovereignty.  Constantine  succeeded  his  father  Constan 
tius,  and,  by  the  overthrow  of  Maxentius,  had  become 
master  of  all  of  the  Western  Empire,  although  north 
of  the  Mediterranean  Licinius  ruled  Pannonia,  Dalmatia, 
Dacia,  Greece,  and  Thrace ;  and,  having  overthrown  Max- 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  229 

imian,  ruled  the  East,  including  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and 
Egypt. 

But  it  was  always  Constantine's  set  purpose  to  restore 
the  unity  of  the  empire,  and  to  concentrate  the  whole 
imperial  authority  in  his  own  hand — a  purpose  of  which 
he  never  for  one  moment  lost  sight,  and  which  is  the 
explanation  of  his  whole  magnificent  career.  The  present 
difficulty  in  the  way  was  the  fact  that  he  had  permitted, 
perhaps  solicited,  Licinius  to  sign  with  him  the  Decree 
of  Milan,  which  gave  peace  to  the  Church ;  and  this  cele 
brated  document  had  been  issued  in  both  their  names, 
by  their  joint  authority,  and  had  been  so  published 
throughout  the  empire.  In  addition  to  this  was  the  fact 
that  the  Christians  universally  regarded  the  defeat  of 
Maximian  and  the  triumph  of  Licinius  as  providential, 
for  the  former  had  persecuted  the  Church,  and  the  latter 
had  protected  it  in  conjunction  with  Constantine.  The 
public  actions  of  Maximian  gave  countenance  to  this 
opinion  :  for,  while  he  had  great  faith  in  the  heathen 
gods  and  priests,  and  had  resorted  to  magic  in  order  to 
conduct  the  war  with  Licinius  triumphantly,  after  he  had 
been  defeated  in  battle  "he  slew  many  of  his  priests  as 
jugglers  and  impostors,  and  as  the  destroyers  of  his  own 
safety,  since  by  their  oracles  he  had  been  induced  to  un 
dertake  the  disastrous  war.  Moreover,  having  heard  that 
Constantine  and  Licinius  were  both  Christians,  he  sup 
posed  that  their  success  was  the  result  of  their  religion, 
and  himself  immediately  issued  a  decree  providing  safety 
for  the  Christians  whom  less  than  a  year  before  he  had 
ordered  to  be  persecuted,  by  decrees  engraved  on  brazen 


230  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

tablets ;  he  gave  them  liberty  to  rebuild  their  churches, 
and  commanded  that  all  of  their  property  which  had 
been  seized  and  sold  under  the  former  decrees  should  be 
restored  to  them.  Shortly  afterward  he  miserably  died, 
and  Licinius  ruled  alone." 

Licinius  was  a  firm  believer  in  Christianity,  and  his 
faith  and  the  decrees  of  Maximian  alike  confirmed  both 
himself  and  his  subjects  in  the  opinion  that  he  was  under 
the  divine  protection. 

Constantino  was  not  long  in  perceiving  the  greatest  po 
litical  error,  perhaps  the  only  one,  committed  by  him,  the 
affixing  of  the  signature  of  Licinius  to  the  Decree  of  Mi 
lan  ;  but,  at  the  time  it  was  done,  human  foresight  could 
hardly  have  anticipated  such  a  wholesale  abandonment  of 
paganism,  and  such  an  ardent  and  enthusiastic  adoption 
of  Constantino's  new  ecclesiasticism,  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  as  did  actually  occur.  To  have  left  the  name  of 
Licinius  out  of  the  decree  would  have  fostered  any  am 
bitious  views  which  that  emperor  might  have  entertained, 
by  enabling  him  to  set  up  himself  as  the  especial  guardian 
of  the  heathen  religion,  and  so  concentrating  in  his  own 
hands  all  the  resources  of  the  pagan  world.  Constantine 
was  compelled,  therefore,  either  to  divide  the  influence  of 
the  Christians  with  Licinius,  or  else  to  array  himself  and 
Christianity  on  the  one  side,  against  Licinius  and  pagan 
ism  on  the  other  ;  and  he  was  too  wise  a  ruler  not  to 
perceive  that  such  a  civil  and  religious  war  would  be 
disastrous  to  both  rulers,  if  not  the  ultimate  ruin  of  the 
empire ;  and,  not  knowing  the  vast  numerical  strength  of 
the  Christians,  he  chose  the  former  alternative.  But  no 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  231 

sooner  had  he  succeeded  in  getting  all  power  in  the 
North  and  West  concentrated  firmly  in  his  owe  hands, 
than  he  began  to  seek  for  means  whereby  to  under 
mine  the  power  of  his  rival,  and  so  carry  into  effect 
his  life-long  purpose — the  reuniting  of  the  divided  em 
pire,  and  the  concentration  of  all  power  in  his  own 
hands. 

The  Christians  of  the  Eastern  Empire  maintained  the 
primitive  religion,  and  persevered  in  their  original  opposi 
tion  to  bearing  arms  in  war,  and  to  slavery,  and  to  private- 
property  rights,  and  so  added  nothing  to  the  military  power 
of  Licinius,  except  their  constantly  increasing  communal 
wealth.  Licinius  simply  left  the  Church  at  peace,  and  was 
not  consummate  politician  enough  to  use  its  vast  resources 
in  aid  of  his  government,  as  Constantino  had  done,  by 
inducing  the  Christians  to  abandon  the  primitive  organiza 
tion  of  the  Church  and  become  Eoman  subjects  in  every 
thing  except  the  mere  article  of  faith.  When  Ulfilas,  the 
Goth,  converted  his  barbarous  countrymen,  and  transformed 
the  fierce  and  warlike  tribes  into  peaceful  and  settled 
peoples  among  whom  war,  slavery,  polygamy,  and  private 
property,  were  unknown,  and  among  whom  no  king  was 
recognized  but  Christ,  Constantine  declared  war  against 
them,  and  pursued  them  with  fire  and  sword  until  they 
were  forced  to  adopt  Roman  laws  and  customs,  and  agreed 
by  treaty  to  supply  a  permanent  force  of  forty  thousand 
young  men  to  the  imperial  army  ;  and,  after  that,  he 
caused  Ulfilas  himself  to  be  ordained  a  bishop,  and  sent 
him  back  to  his  own  people  to  teach  the  imperial  religion 
instead  of  Christianity.  But  this  profound  and  atheistic 


232  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

policy  was  too  deep  for  the  Emperor  Licinius  ;  and  Con- 
stantine  knew  well  that,  according  to  the  primitive  Chris 
tianity,  a  whole  Christian  province  would  not  furnish  a 
single  recruit  to  his  rival's  legions,  since  no  Christian 
would  bear  arms. 

Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  who  had  prepared  the  way  for 
Constantine  to  become  the  head  of  the  Church  in  the 
Western  Empire,  was  the  emperor's  chosen  friend  and 
constant  counselor,  and  the  ruler  of  Kome  never  for 
got  that  the  bishop  had,  first  of  all  men,  invited  his 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  despised  and  persecuted 
Christians  constituted  already  a  body  of  men  so  numerous, 
BO  virtuous,  and  so  prosperous,  as  to  hold  the  balance  of 
power  between  any  factions  which  might  divide  the  Roman 
people  just  as  soon  as  the  legal  disabilities  which  both  con 
cealed  their  numbers  and  fettered  their  influence  might  be 
removed  by  imperial  favor. 

Under  the  advice  of  Eusebius,  the  emperor,  in  his  own 
name,  sent  to  Anulinus,  Proconsul  of  Africa,  a  decree  most 
favorable  to  the  Christians  throughout  that  region  ;  he 
also  made  presents  of  large  sums  of  money  to  the  bishops 
of  Africa,  Numidia,  and  Mauritania,  who  had  been  plun 
dered  in  the  persecutions  of  Maximian  ;  he  also  sent  a  de 
cree  ordaining  that  all  church  prelates  be  freed  from  obli 
gation  to  discharge  any  public,  military,  or  political  duties 
and  offices  ;  also,  he  made  a  decree  commanding  a  certain 
council  to  be  held  concerning  the  affairs  of  Caecilianus, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  and  sent  to  Miltiades,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
copies  of  the  charges  against  Caecilianus  ;  also,  a  decree  ad 
dressed  to  Chrestus,  Bishop  of  Syracuse,  commanding  that 


"HIS   MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  233 

a  council  of  many  bishops,  both  of  Africa  and  of  Gaul, 
should  assemble  at  the  city  of  Aries,  in  order  to  consider 
and  determine  certain  questions  which  were  disputed 
among  the  faithful. 

In  short,  counseled  by- Eusebius,  who  never  doubted 
the  ultimate  overthrow  of  idolatry,  and  the  ultimate  tri 
umph  of  whatever  ecclesiastical  system  might  be  estab 
lished  in  place  of  the  Christian  communities,  Constan- 
tine  zealously  strove  in  every  way  to  identify  himself 
and  his  government  with  the  new  religion,  and  to  hold 
himself  out  as  the  head  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  of  the 
state.  At  the  same  time  he  steadily  pursued  a  secret 
policy  of  winning  to  himself  the  affection  and  confidence 
of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Emperor  Licinius,  by  the 
use  of  agents  whom  he  kept  in  his  own  service,  in  the 
household  of  every  bishop  of  the  Eastern  Church.  This 
zeal  in  the  service  of  the  established  ecclesiasticism  soon 
met  with  the  great  reward  which  Eusebius  had  promised 
to  the  emperor  ;  for,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  churches  it  began  to  be  commonly  declared  that 
"  Constantino  was  the  divinely-appointed  protector  of  the 
Christians";  that  "God  was  the  friend  and  vigilant 
protector  of  Constantine " ;  and  that  "no  man  could  be 
his  equal,  and  no  man  could  stand  against  him."  Li 
cinius  soon  perceived  the  influence  of  these  machina 
tions,  and  saw  that,  even  in  his  own  dominions,  the 
Christians,  and  especially  the  prelates,  offered  up  more 
prayers  for  Constantine  than  for  himself  — "  so  that  he 
did  not  suppose,"  saith  Eusebius,  "  that  they  offered 
prayers  for  him  at  all,  but  persuaded  himself  that  they 


234  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

did  all  things,  and  propitiated   the   Deity,  only  for   the 
divinely-favored  Emperor  Constantine. " 

This  treasonable  sentiment,  of  course,  aroused  the  re 
sentment  of  the  jealous  Licinius,  and  more  and  more  devel 
oped  that  estrangement  between  him  and  the  Christians 
for  which  Constantine  secretly  but  zealously  labored  ;  and 
Licinius  sought  revenge  by  fomenting  every  disaffection 
which  manifested  itself  against  the  rule  of  Constantine  in 
Africa.  But  the  bishops  were  as  perfect  a  police  force  as 
modern  times  have  ever  succeeded  in  organizing,  and 
kept  Rome  fully  advised  of  every  movement  inaugurated 
by  the  enemies  of  the  "most  Christian  emperor."  And 
Eusebius  saith,  concerning  Licinius,  that  "when  he  saw 
that  his  secret  preparations  by  no  means  succeeded  ac 
cording  to  his  wish,  as  God  detected  every  artifice  and 
villainy  to  his  favorite  prince,  no  longer  able  to  conceal 
himself,  Licinius  commenced  an  open  war.  And  in  thus 
determining  war  against  Constantine,  he  now  proceeded 
to  array  himself  against  the  Supreme  God  whom  he  knew 
Constantine  to  worship.  Afterward  he  began  impercep 
tibly  to  assail  those  pious  subjects  under  him  who  had 
never  at  any  time  troubled  his  government.  This  too, 
he  did,  violently  urged  on  by  the  innate  propensity  of  his 
malice,  that  overclouded  and  darkened  his  understanding. 
He  did  not,  therefore,  bear  in  mind  those  that  had  per 
secuted  the  Christians  before  him,  nor  those  whose  de 
stroyer  and  punisher  he  himself  had  been  appointed,  for 
their  wickedness.  But,  departing  from  sound  reason,  and, 
as  one  might  say,  seized  with  insanity,  he  had  determined 
to  wage  war  against  God  himself,  the  protector  and  aid 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  235 

of  Constantine,  in  place  of  the  one  whom  He  assisted. 
And  first,  indeed,  he  drove  away  all  the  Christians  from 
his  house,  the  wretch  thus  divesting  himself  of  those 
prayers  to  God  for  his  safety  which  they  were  taught  to 
offer  up  for  all  men.  After  this  he  ordered  the  soldiers 
in  the  cities  to  be  cashiered  and  stripped  of  military 
honors  unless  they  chose  to  sacrifice  to  demons." 

Constantine  having  craftily  succeeded  in  embroiling 
Licinius  with  the  Church,  watched  with  secret  joy,  until 
the  enemy  whom  he  wished  to  destroy  followed  up  this 
lustration  of  his  army  and  navy,  which  was  designed  to 
drive  out  the  Christian  spies  of  Constantine,  with  more 
strenuous  measures ;  and,  in  the  language  of  Eusebius, 
"at  last  proceeded  to  such  an  extent  of  madness  as  to 
attack  the  bishops,  now  indeed  regarding  them  as  the  ser 
vants  of  the  Supreme  God,  but  hostile  to  his  measures." 
And  as  the  angry  tyrant  adopted  extreme  remedies  for 
this  ecclesiastical  treason,  "razing  the  churches  to  the 
ground  "  ;  "  subjecting  the  bishops  to  the  same  punish 
ment  as  the  worst  criminals";  "cutting  the  bodies  of 
some  into  small  pieces  and  feeding  them  out  to  fishes  in 
the  sea";  and  "destroying  others  by  various  modes  of 
torture  and  death" — "the  whole  Christian  world  regarded 
him  with  horror  and  detestation,  and  looked  to  Constan 
tine  for  deliverance." 

So  that  the  error  which  the  emperor  had  committed, 
in  soliciting  Licinius  to  affix  his  signature  to  the  Decree 
of  Milan,  was  not  only  fully  compensated  by  his  consum 
mate  skill  and  artifice,  but  the  Church  prayed  earth  and 
Heaven  for  the  destruction  of  Licinius.  Licinius,  irritated 


236  ABIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

more  and  more  by  the  wide-spread  disaffection  of  his  sub 
jects,  espoused  the  cause  of  Bassianus,  who  had  married 
Anastasia,  the  sister  of  Constantine,  and  urged  him  into 
rebellion  in  order  to  gain  larger  power ;  and,  Bassianus 
having  been  defeated  and  dethroned,  Licinius  refused  to 
deliver  up  the  partisans  of  the  fallen  Caesar  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  his  dominions ;  and  upon  this  pretext 
Constantine  declared  war  against  him ;  and  in  two  bat 
tles,  one  at  Cibalis  in  Pannonia,  and  the  other  upon  the 
plains  of  Mardia  in  Thrace,  he  defeated  Licinius,  and  so 
crippled  him  that  he  was  compelled  to  make  peace,  with 
the  loss  of  Pannonia,  Dalmatia,  Dacia,  Macedonia,  and 
Greece,  which  provinces  were  added  to  the  dominions  of 
Constantine,  and  extended  his  empire  to  the  extremity  of 
Peloponnesus,  leaving  Licinius  Emperor  of  Thrace,  Asia 
Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt. 

This  war  happened  in  the  year  315,  and  the  ambition 
of  Constantine  was  temporarily  sated,  so  that  he  then  re 
frained  from  pushing  to  extremities  the  defeated  but  still 
powerful  Licinius  until  he  might  have  time  and  oppor 
tunity  to  alienate  the  affection  and  confidence  of  his  sub 
jects  in  Asia  as  thoroughly  as  he  had  done  in  Europe. 
And,  besides  this,  he  wanted  time  in  order  to  subjugate 
the  Goths  whom  Ulfilas  had  converted,  subvert  the  Chris 
tian  communities  organized  among  them  on  the  primitive 
foundation,  and  force  them  to  adopt  the  ecclesiastical 
system  which  he  had  established  at  Kome,  in  order  to 
make  the  Gothic  nation  an  available  factor  in  any  future 
war  in  which  he  might  engage.  But  in  a  few  years  af 
terward,  having  successfully  waged  war  against  the  Goths, 


"HIS  MOST  CATHOLIC  MAJESTY."  237 

and  having  seen  the  influence  of  Licinius  greatly  im 
paired  by  the  persecutions  of  the  Church  in  Syria  and 
Egypt  which  he  had  encouraged  and,  perhaps,  insti 
gated,  as  well  as  by  that  secret  diplomacy  of  which  Con- 
stantine  was  master,  the  Koman  emperor  deemed  that  the 
time  had  come  to  destroy  Licinius,  and  restore  the  unity 
of  the  empire,  and  consolidate  all  power  in  his  own  hands, 
especially  as  the  great  age  and  unpopular  vices  of  Licin 
ius  seemed  to  presage  an  easy  victory.  He  accordingly 
(and  without  any  pretext  whatever  on  this  occasion)  de 
clared  war  against  the  Illyrian  emperor ;  and  in  the  great 
battle  of  Adrianople,  and  in  the  siege  of  Byzantium,  and 
in  the  decisive  action  of  Chrysopolis,  in  all  of  which  he 
engaged  Licinius  with  inferior  numbers,  his  vast  military 
genius  asserted  itself,  so  that  by  continuous  defeats  he 
reduced  the  Emperor  of  the  East  to  the  necessity  of  making 
an  unconditional  surrender.  Constantia,  the  wife  of  Li 
cinius,  was  the  sister  of  Constantine,  and,  at  her  request 
and  entreaties,  the  conqueror  temporarily  spared  the  life 
of  his  fallen  rival,  and  banished  him  to  Thessalonica, 
where  he  was  soon  afterward  assassinated  in  some  mys 
terious  manner,  it  being  to  this  day  uncertain  whether 
he  perished  by  the  order  of  the  senate,  by  a  tumult  of 
the  soldiers,  or  by  the  machinations  of  Constantine.  But 
it  is  certain  that  the  "  first  Christian  emperor  "  regarded 
the  fact  that  a  man  might  stand  in  the  way  of  his  am 
bition,  or  possibly  compromise  his  safety,  as  a  sufficient 
reason  for  putting  him  to  death,  even  if  the  unlucky  per 
son  happened  to  be  his  own  son. 

"  Thus  the  mighty  and  victorious  Constantine,"  saith 
16 


238  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Eusebius,  "  adorned  with  every  virtue  of  religion,  with  his 
most  pious  son,  Crispus  Caesar,  resembling  in  all  things 
his  father,  recovered  the  East  as  his  own,  and  thus  re 
stored  the  Eoman  Empire  to  its  ancient  state  of  one  united 
body ;  extending  their  peaceful  sway  around  the  world, 
from  the  rising  sun  to  the  opposite  regions,  to  the  north 
and  the  south,  even  to  the  borders  of  the  declining  day." 

But  this  greatest  statesman,  politician,  and  ruler — this 
absolute,  untroubled,  and  self-confident  atheist — had  only 
"the  godliness  that  is  profitable  for  the  life  that  now 
is  "  ;  for  this  "  Christian  "  had  never  been  baptized  (know 
ing  that  an  emperor  can  not  be  a  Christian)  ;  and  he  after 
ward  murdered  in  cold  blood,  without  provocation,  "his 
most  pious  son,  Crispus  Caesar,  resembling  in  all  things  his 
father  "  ;  his  own  wife  Fausta,  and  the  youthful  Licinius, 
son  of  his  sister  Constantia ;  just  as  he  systematically  as 
sassinated  every  one  whom  his  calm,  merciless,  wise  policy 
thought  to  be  possibly  inimical  to  his  own  safety.  But 
he  realized  the  life-long  ambition  of  his  soul,  the  restora 
tion  of  the  unity  of  the  Roman  Empire  under  his  own 
authority  ;  and  did  it  by  the  aid  of  the  Christian  Church, 
which  he  bribed,  corrupted,  and  secularized,  until  it  ac 
knowledged  him  to  be  king  instead  of  Jesus  Christ. 

These  historical  details,  however,  anticipate  our  narra 
tive  of  Arius  the  Libyan,  to  which  we  must  now  return. 


CHAPTER   II. 

A  NAVAL  QUESTION. 

AFTER  the  overthrow  of  the  Christian  communities 
which  Ulfilas  had  founded  among  the  Goths,  Constantine 
called  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  unto  himself,  and  be 
gan  to  make  diligent  inquiries  concerning  the  churches 
of  Syria  and  of  Egypt ;  and,  having  obtained  all  of  the 
information  current  among  the  bishops,  he  entered  into 
conversation  with  Eusebius,  apparently  for  the  purpose 
of  still  further  satisfying  himself  upon  certain  points  in 
volved  in  his  investigations. 

"Thou  sayest,"  said  Constantine,  "that,  in  spite  of 
the  persecution  in  which  many  bishops  and  private  per 
sons  have  suffered  martyrdom,  the  Church  constantly  in 
creases  in  numbers  and  influence." 

"Yea,"  replied  Eusebius,  "but  not  so  rapidly  as  in 
thine  own  dominions  ;  for  in  most  places  their  services  are 
secretly  conducted  because  of  the  heathen ;  yet  the  truth 
triumphs  everywhere,  and  the  churches  prosper  wonder 
fully.  The  cruel  wrongs  done  unto  the  faithful  excite  the 
interest  and  compassion  of  all  fair-minded  men,  and  there 
are  always  many  who  seek  for  fuller  information  concern 
ing  our  holy  religion,  and  there  are  always  some  at  hand 
ready  to  impart  it." 


240  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  I  would  that  it  were  possible  for  me  at  this  time  to 
occupy  the  same  relation  to  the  Eastern  Church  that  so 
happily  obtains  in  the  Empire  of  the  West.  But  that 
seems  to  be  impossible  while  the  Emperor  Licinius  reigns 
over  those  realms." 

"Thou  art  as  much  beloved  by  the  Christians  of  the 
East  as  by  those  of  Europe  or  of  Africa ;  and  they  look 
unto  thee  for  deliverance,  and  hopefully  await  thy  com- 
ing." 

"But  Europe  and  Africa  are  under  mine  own  hand, 
and  Asia  is  not ;  the  Church  of  the  East  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  my  protection." 

"Stretch  forth  thine  arm  of  power,  thou  favorite  of 
the  supreme  God,  and  take  it  unto  thyself.  Thou  alone 
art  fitted  to  be  emperor,  and  Asia,  as  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  is  rightfully  thine  own." 

Then  Constantino  gave  way  to  one  of  those  fits  of  sud 
den,  silent  meditation  which  were  not  unusual  to  him,  and 
continued  to  gaze  upon  his  bishop  long  and  earnestly. 
At  last  he  said :  "  The  Emperor  Licinius  is  a  brave 
and  skillful  commander,  trained  all  his  life  in  the  dis 
cipline  of  the  Roman  army.  He  not  only  hath  yet  a 
solid  foothold  upon  European  soil,  but  he  could  call 
into  action  out  of  populous  Asia  double  as  many  sol 
diers  as  the  Western  Empire  could  put  into  the  field, 
including  the  hardy  Goths,  whom  I  have  added  to  the 
military  force  of  Rome.  He  is  no  merely  titular  em 
peror,  but  is  a  consummate  warrior,  a  wise  ruler,  an  able 
and  valiant  man,  as  he  hath  already  proved  against  both 
Maximian  and  myself." 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  241 

"  Thou  and  God  art  greater  still  ! "  said  the  bishop, 
solemnly. 

"  That  might  be  so  upon  the  land,"  murmured  Con- 
stantine,  absently,  "for  many  of  my  legions  are  veterans, 
who  hare  followed  me  through  seventeen  campaigns  with 
out  defeat,  and  the  Goths  are  brave  and  hardy.  But  the 
old  emperor's  vast  superiority  is  on  the  sea.  For,  since 
Rome  ceased  to  be  the  seat  of  empire,  the  naval  establish 
ments  of  Misenum  and  Ravenna  have  been  greatly  neg 
lected,  and  the  maritime  cities  of  Greece  no  longer  furnish 
those  formidable  fleets  which  made  the  republic  of  Athens 
so  famous.  But  the  Emperor  Licinius  can  draw  from 
Egypt  and  the  adjacent  coasts  of  Africa,  from  the  ports 
of  Phoanicia  and  the  Isle  of  Cyprus,  and  from  Bithynia, 
Ionia,  and  Caria,  a  fleet  to  which  the  rest  of  mankind 
could  offer  no  effective  opposition  ;  so  that,  if  I  should  be 
successful  on  land,  the  emperor's  naval  superiority  would 
enable  him  to  carry  an  offensive  war  into  every  sea-coast  of 
Hispania,  Gaul,  and  Italy,  cut  off  all  my  supplies,  and 
force  me  to  retreat  even  in  the  face  of  victory.  It  will  not 
do  ! "  he  cried,  passionately  and  despondingly — "  it  will 
not  do  !  and  it  requires  years  to  prepare  a  navy  !  There 
must  be  some  other  way — some  other  way ! " 

What  dark  and  secret  thought  slumbered  in  the  capa 
cious  deeps  of  that  calm,  unwavering  spirit  to  which  ex 
pediency  was  ever  a  sufficient  justification  for  any  crime 
that  might  advance  political  designs,  no  man  can  ever 
know ;  but  Eusebius  at  once  perceived  that  the  thing 
which  he  supposed  to  have  been  a  suggestion  of  his  own — a 
temptation  held  out  by  him  to  the  emperor  and  ventured 


242  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

upon  because  his  zeal  for  the  persecuted  Christians  of  the 
Eastern  Church  made  him  earnestly  desire  that  Constan- 
tine  should  conquer  and  protect  those  regions — had  in 
truth  long  been  a  subject  of  profoundest  meditation  in  the 
emperor's  soul ;  a  most  dangerous  ambition,  which  he  had 
considered  in  every  possible  aspect  of  it.  Neither  of  these 
able  men  spoke  for  some  time.  Then  the  emperor  said, 
musingly  :  "  Would  that  it  were  possible  for  me  at  this 
time  to  occupy  the  same  relation  to  the  Eastern  Churches 
that  so  happily  obtains  in  the  Empire  of  the  West  !  But 
there  must  be  some  other  way — some  other  way  ! " 

Eusebius  perceived  from  the  repetition  of  these  words 
that  they  in  some  way  contained  the  particular  matter  con 
cerning  which  Constantine  desired  him  to  speak ;  and  he 
shuddered  at  the  unwelcome  thought  of  what  might  pos 
sibly  be  required  at  the  hand  of  some  bishop  of  the  Church 
by  the  implacable  and  unscrupulous  emperor ;  but,  not 
fully  comprehending  the  drift  of  the  royal  mind,  he  an 
swered  :  "  It  would  be  easy  to  attach  the  bishops  and  their 
congregations  unto  thyself  as  thou  didst  those  of  Africa, 
by  secret  aid  to  the  churches,  and  by  kind  messages  unto 
those  who  have  experienced  the  tyrant's  cruelty ;  for  al 
ready  all  Christians  regard  thee  as  divinely  raised  up  for 
their  succor,  and  they  are  comforted  by  the  hope  that, 
when  thou  dost  rule  the  world,  the  gospel  shall  be  as  free 
in  the  East  as  it  is  in  the  West." 

"  But  that  is  a  mere  sentiment,"  answered  Constantine. 
"  The  Christians  are  not  soldiers  ;  in  the  East  they  refuse 
to  bear  arms,  or  to  recognize  an  earthly  ruler.  Surely 
thou  dosfc  remember  how  difficult  it  was  to  bring  them 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  243 

over  to  any  active  support  of   mine  empire  even  in  the 
West." 

"Yea,  verily!  But  thou  mayst  gradually  assume 
direction  of  the  Church  there  as  thou  hast  done  here  :  by 
largesses  to  the  bishops  ;  by  calling  councils  in  thine  own 
name  to  settle  clerical  differences ;  and  by  training  them, 
as  thou  hast  done  here,  to  regard  thee  alone  as  the  real 
source  of  both  ecclesiastical  and  political  authority ;  and  so 
by  degrees  control  them  as  thou  wilt." 

"  I  have  meditated  over  all  of  that,"  said  Constantine, 
"  and  the  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment 
grows  out  of  the  fact  that  any  attempt  to  interfere  in  the 
trial  of  charges  against  bishops  or  presbyters,  whether  upon 
accusations  of  personal  misconduct,  or  of  erroneous  doc 
trine,  within  the  dominions  of  the  Emperor  Licinius, 
would  be  regarded  by  him,  and  by  his  subjects,  as  an  un 
warrantable  interference  in  matters  which  do  not  concern 
the  Empire  of  the  West ;  and  such  a  course  would  only 
inflame  and  consolidate  those  whom  I  prefer  to  divide  in 
sentiment. " 

"  But,"  said  Eusebius,  "  if  the  question  in  dispute 
should  be  one,  not  between  the  members  of  some  par 
ticular  community,  or  locality,  but  between  almost  the 
whole  body  of  the  Christians  in  the  Western  Empire  on 
the  one  hand,  and  almost  the  whole  body  of  the  Eastern 
Church  upon  the  other,  could  there  be  any  impropriety 
in  calling  a  council  of  the  whole  Church,  East  and  West, 
to  consider  and  determine  it  ? " 

"No,"  said  Constantine.  "If  there  were  only  such 
a  question,  the  way  would  be  laid  open  at  least  for  a  be- 


244  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ginning.  But  how  couldst  thou  ever  create  such  a  ques 
tion?" 

"The  question,  or  rather  the  questions  (for  there  are 
two  of  them),  are  already  created — the  East  upon  one 
side  of  both,  and  the  West  upon  the  other." 

"  What  are  these  questions  ?  " 

"One  is  a  great  dispute  concerning  the  proper  time 
for  the  celebration  of  Easter ;  and  the  other  a  most 
subtile  controversy  concerning  the  nature  of  Godhead 
and  the  relation  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  a 
dispute  in  which  Hosius  of  Cordova  leads  many  bishops 
and  presbyters  upon  one  side,  and  Arius  the  Libyan  as 
many  upon  the  other." 

"  Arius  the  Libyan ! "  cried  Constantine,  with  sud 
den  wrath.  "  The  Libyan  serpent !  The  ram  of  Bauca- 
lis  !  a  presbyter  of  Alexandria !  By  thundering  Jove,  I 
will  yet  crush  that  hard,  stubborn,  fearless  nature,  for 
he  hath  been  more  in  my  way  than  even  the  Emperor 
Licinius  himself  !  Curse  the  man  !  curse  him  ! " 

Eusebius  gazed  upon  the  emperor  in  mute  astonish 
ment.  He  knew  that  Constantine  possessed  an  almost 
supernatural  knowledge  of  all  political  movements  and 
persons,  even  in  the  remotest  corner  of  the  empire  over 
which  he  reigned,  but  he  had  never  even  dreamed  that 
the  mighty  emperor  had  heard  so  much  as  the  name  of 
the  gaunt,  unsocial,  self-denying,  and  inflexible  presbyter 
of  the  Baucalis  church  at  Alexandria,  in  the  dominions 
of  Licinius. 

"Knowest  thou  the  man  ?"  he  asked  with  uncon 
cealed  astonishment. 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  245 

Constantino  had  already  regained  his  usual  calmness, 
and  in  placid  tones  replied:  "I  have  never  seen  Arius, 
but  have  constantly  and  often  heard  of  his  dangerous 
and  revolutionary  teachings,  and  of  his  rugged,  impla 
cable,  unyielding  character.  He  hateth  me  without  any 
cause,  except  that  I  am  emperor,  and  scorneth  every 
favor  I  was  inclined  to  show  him.  I  even  tendered  unto 
him  the  bishopric  of  Alexandria,  which  Alexander  now 
holds,  but  he  refused  to  accept  it,  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  he  supposed  his  advancement  to  that  high 
place  to  have  been  procured  by  the  influence  of  mine 
agents  in  that  city." 

"  I  regret  that  he  is  not  thy  friend,"  answered  Euse- 
bius ;  "  but  wilt  thou  instruct  me  how  a  presbyter  could 
teach  dangerous  and  revolutionary  doctrines  ?  Perhaps 
such  teachings  might  furnish  matter  for  which  the 
Church  might  suspend  him  from  the  office  of  presbyter, 
and  silence  his  utterances." 

"I  do  not  think  so,"  answered  Constantine.  "He 
teaches  that  a  Christian  can  not  be  an  emperor,  nor  bear 
arms  in  war ;  and  that  to  take  sides  in  a  struggle  be 
tween  any  earthly  governments  is  to  betray  the  Christ. 
He  teaches  that  no  Christian  can  hold  slaves,  own  pri 
vate  property,  or  recognize  Roman  and  Egyptian  laws 
and  customs  in  reference  to  marriage  and  divorce.  In  a 
word,  he  still  rigidly  adheres  to  that  primitive  Christian 
ity,  the  prevalence  of  which  would  soon  render  all  gov 
ernment  over  the  people  unnecessary  if  not  impossible, 
and  which,  as  thou  knowest,  it  was  so  difficult  for  us  to 
guide  to  right  and  reasonable  action  even  in  Borne  and 


246  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN". 

in  other  parts  of  the  West.  But  his  primitive  and  fear- 
less  teachings  have  reduced  to  the  ghostly  form  of  a 
mere  sentiment  all  the  active  aid  I  had  expected  to  ob 
tain  from  the  Christians  of  Syria  and  of  Egypt.  The 
fleet,  the  mighty  fleet,  which  putteth  all  my  coasts  at 
the  mercy  of  Licinius,  ought  to  have  been  mine  own, 
and  would  have  been  but  for  that  Libyan  serpent  who 
paralyzed  the  arms  of  willing  Christians  by  his  accursed 
teachings." 

"But,"  said  Eusebius,  solemnly,  "these  teachings  were 
the  very  doctrines  of  our  Lord,  and  Arius  hath  proclaimed 
nothing  but  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  for  three  hun 
dred  years  no  Christian  man  hath  owned  a  slave  or 
claimed  private  title  to  property,  or  lifted  up  a  weapon 
even  in  defense  of  the  faith  for  which  he  does  not  hesi 
tate  to  die."  And  the  bishop's  fine  face  darkened,  and 
his  heart  twitched  as  if  some  transient  gleam  of  light 
ning  had  revealed  before  him  a  bottomless  pit  that  opened 
down  to  perdition  ;  and  for  a  moment  he  half-way  felt  that 
he  had  lost  his  own  soul  by  juggling  with  the  empire  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  and  for  the  glory  of  the  Church. 

While  he  stood  in  painful  meditation,  the  emperor  con 
tinued  :  "Yea!  doubtless  this  was  the  primitive  system; 
and,  thoroughly  permeated  with  its  new  and  radical  prin 
ciples,  Arius  seeketh  to  enforce  them.  The  African  ram, 
bold,  self-confident,  aggressive  !  the  Libyan  serpent,  agile, 
beautiful,  tameless,  and  dangerous !  scorning  all  earthly 
ambitions  as  trifles  unworthy  of  the  consideration  of  an 
immortal  spirit ;  despising  pain,  and  toil,  and  peril ;  al 
most  courting  martyrdom  ;  immovable  by  threats  of  ven- 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  247 

geance,  or  by  hope  of  reward ;  alike  inaccessible  to  flat 
tery  and  to  fear — but  for  that  one  man  I  would  hold 
the  East  in  my  hand  to-day  !  For  the  fleet  was  largely 
manned  and  officered  by  Christians,  and  all  things  were 
arranged  to  deliver  up  the  ships  to  me,  when  this  fierce, 
invincible,  immovable  presbyter  poured  out  the  angry 
torrent  of  his  eloquence  and  learning,  urging  the  Chris 
tians  to  obey  all  laws  of  the  government  under  which 
they  lived  that  were  not  contrary  to  conscience,  and  de 
nouncing  those  who  might  engage  on  either  side  in  favor 
of  an  earthly  ruler  as  traitors  to  Christ  and  his  king 
dom.  Their  courage  shriveled  up  before  his  fierce  de 
nunciation,  as  if  it  had  been  smitten  by  the  wrath  of 
God,  and  all  the  carefully  prepared  plans  for  getting  pos 
session  of  more  than  half  the  fleet  of  Licinius,  and  espe 
cially  of  the  great  galleys  with  three  banks  of  oars,  faded 
away  before  the  breath  of  this  one  irreconcilable  and  im 
movable  man.  Then  the  attention  of  the  Emperor  Li 
cinius  having  been  called  to  the  matter,  he  made  a  lus 
tration  of  his  army  and  navy,  and  dishonorably  dismissed 
therefrom  every  man  who  refused  to  offer  sacrifice  to  the 
gods ;  and  also  from  his  civil  service,  and  from  his 
palaces.  And  since  that  day  there  hath  been  no  man  in 
the  service  of  Licinius  that  is  a  Christian.  But  the  em 
peror  sent  to  Arius  a  parchment  giving  to  him  legal  au 
thority  to  preach  the  gospel  publicly  in  his  city  of  Alex 
andria,  because  his  gospel  had  saved  the  fleet ;  and  the 
stern,  uncompromising  presbyter  sent  it  back  with  a  mes 
sage  that  his  authority  to  preach  was  from  God,  not  from 
man." 


248  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"For  what  reason  did  Arius  so  bitterly  take  sides 
against  thee,  the  favorite  of  God,  the  protector  of  the 
Church?" 

"It  would  be  unjust,"  said  Constantine,  "to  say  that 
he  ever  did  so.  He  did  not ;  but  his  powerful  influence 
in  holding  the  Christians  of  Egypt  and  of  Syria  to  strict 
est  neutrality  was  the  most  injurious  policy  he  could 
have  pursued  against  me ;  but  he  would  have  pursued 
the  same  course  against  any  other  ruler  in  the  world." 

Eusebius  was  the  fast  friend  of  Arius,  whom  he  ad 
mired  and  loved  beyond  all  living  men  (for  Pamphilus 
had  already  suffered  martyrdom)  ;  and  the  great  ecclesi 
astic,  rejoicing  at  the  praises  bestowed  upon  his  friend 
by  the  greatest  ruler  of  men,  strove  to  call  out  yet  more 
of  his  opinion,  and  accordingly  said  unto  him,  "  Couldst 
thou  not,  then,  attack  the  moral  character  of  Arius,  and 
call  a  council  to  condemn  him  for  some  irregularity,  and 
so  get  rid  of  him  ? " 

"Nay,"  answered  the  emperor,  "the  man  is  proof 
against  all  earthly  temptations.  When  all  arrangements 
had  been  made  to  confer  upon  him  the  see  of  Alexan 
dria,  he  calmly  but  positively  refused  to  accept  the  office, 
saying  he  would  live  and  die  presbyter  of  the  Baucalis 
church.  Gifts  of  money  sent  unto  him  anonymously  he 
poured  into  the  common  treasury  of  the  Church  un 
counted,  and,  in  the  midst  of  opulence,  lived  the  life  of 
an  anchorite.  Seven  hundred  of  the  noblest  women  of 
Alexandria  are  his  communicants,  and  constant  watchful 
ness  never  detected  him  in  the  slightest  impropriety  with 
any  of  them.  In  the  pestilence  which  decimated  and 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  249 

terrified  the  great  city,  by  day  and  night  he  ministered 
unto  the  afflicted,  when  even  parents  abandoned  their 
children  and  children  their  parents,  and  the  ties  of  blood 
were  disregarded,  until  the  people  believed  him  to  be  in 
vested  with  a  charmed  life  that  was  invulnerable  to  pon 
iard,  poison,  or  pestilence.  He  is  the  purest  and  the 
strongest  soul  on  earth,"  said  the  emperor,  with  undis 
guised  admiration,  "but  he  hath  barred  my  way  unto 
the  conquest  of  the  East  ! " 

Eusebius  glowed  with  pleasure  as  he  listened  to  the 
language  in  which  the  emperor  depicted  the  character  of 
Arius,  and  replied  :  "  Only  the  truly  great  are  able  to  do 
justice  to  those  whom  they  have  strong  reason  to  dislike, 
but  thou  hast  painted  the  grand  and  lonely  soul  of  the 
Libyan  even  as  it  is.  He  hath  been  purified  by  sorrow. 
He  is  all  for  Christ,  and  earthly  hopes,  fears  and  ambi 
tions  no  more  can  move  his  chaste  and  lofty  spirit." 

"But,"  said  Constantine,  sternly,  " however  admirable 
the  presbyter  may  be,  I  will  not  forget  that  he  hath 
robbed  me  of  the  fleet !  He  hath  barred  my  way  unto 
the  conquest  of  the  East." 

Then  said  Eusebius  :  "If  the  fleet  of  Licinius  could 
be  by  some  means  neutralized ;  if  that  valiant  tyrant 
could,  perhaps,  be  induced  to  keep  his  fleet  out  of  the 
war  altogether,  and  leave  the  fate  of  the  empire  to  be  de 
cided  by  the  armies  of  the  East  and  of  the  West — would 
that  content  thee  ? " 

The  handsome  face  of  Constantine  glowed  with  a  won 
derful  light  of  hope  and  pleasure  as  he  answered,  eagerly  ; 
"  Yea,  thou  most  wise  and  infallible  bishop  !  If  thou 


250  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

canst  accomplish  this  thing,  soon  shall  the  churches  of 
the  East  enjoy  the  imperial  protection  as  fully  as  do  those 
of  the  Western  Empire ;  and,  freed  from  the  persecutions 
of  Licinius  and  of  the  pagan  priests,  the  Church  shall 
triumph  over  all  the  world.  But  I  have  told  thee  that 
no  more  able  warrior  lives  than  the  emperor ;  he  will 
never  forego  the  use  of  his  right  arm  of  power :  thou 
canst  not  neutralize  his  navy." 

The  greatest  of  ecclesiastics  gazed  with  affectionate 
admiration  upon  the  greatest  of  emperors,  and  calmly  an 
swered  :  "I  am  a  man  of  peace,  and  know  nothing  of 
the  conduct  of  a  war.  But  I  do  know  something  of  the 
human  heart,  and  of  the  secret  springs  that  govern  the 
actions  of  men.  When  I  did  visit  thee  in  Gaul,  before 
the  war  with  Maxentius,  thou  didst  tell  me  that  I  could 
not  cast  a  javelin,  nor  smite  with  a  sword,  nor  draw  out 
a  legion  in  battle  order,  but  that  I  knew  all  Italy,  and 
showed  thee  how  to  conquer  Rome.  Verily  I  know  not 
how  to  sail  a  ship,  yet  I  will  endeavor  diligently  to  keep 
the  tyrant's  navy  far  off  from  thy  coasts.  If  I  should 
fail,  thou  wilt  quickly  know  the  unwelcome  truth ;  and 
if  I  succeed  thou  shalt  learn  it  immediately." 

"Thou  hast  always  succeeded,"  answered  Constantine  ; 
"  no  promise  made  by  thee  hath  failed.  Thou  hast  never 
once  disappointed  thine  emperor  and  friend." 

"For  the  present,"  said  Eusebius,  "I  do  greatly  de 
sire  of  thee  an  indefinite  leave  of  absence,  but  I  trust  not 
a  protracted  one,  in  order  that  I  may  pay  a  visit  to  my 
beloved  brother  Eusebius,  the  Bishop  of  Nicomedia." 

For  an  instant  the  face  of  Constantine  was  clouded. 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  251 

"  Within  the  dominions  of  Licinius  ? "  he  softly  mur 
mured,  but  in  a  moment  he  answered  :  "  Thou  hast  leave 
to  go !  But  tell  me,  bishop,  why  thou  goest  unto  Nico- 
media.  What  canst  thou  do  there  except  to  expose  thy 
dear  and  valuable  head  to  the  fury  of  the  emperor  ? " 

"I  go  thither,"  said  Eusebius,  with  a  light  and  musi 
cal  laugh,  "seeking  to  prepare  a  problem  over  which  the 
historians  and  warriors  of  all  future  ages  shall  puzzle 
their  weary  brains  in  vain.  The  question  which  will  be, 
I  trust,  a  riddle  unto  them,  is  briefly  this :  Why  was  it 
that,  in  the  second  war  with  the  most  Christian  Emperor 
Constantine,  the  brave  and  competent  commander  Licin 
ius,  possessing  so  vast  a  superiority  at  sea,  utterly  failed 
to  carry  an  offensive  war  into  the  very  center  of  his 
rival's  dominions,  and,  having  moored  his  fleet  safely  in 
some  secure  strait  or  bay,  left  the  issue  of  the  war  to  be 
decided  by  the  land-forces  alone,  in  the  conduct  of  which 
the  most  glorious  Emperor  Constantine  was  known  to  be 
invincible  ?  " 

Then  Constantine  sprang  from  his  seat,  and  with  eager, 
glowing  face  he  embraced  the  bishop  and  kissed  him, 
saying :  "  Canst  thou,  indeed,  do  this  thing  for  me  ?  If 
thou  canst,  thou  art  stronger  than  ten  legions,  and  de- 
servest  a  reward  equal  to  their  pay ! " 

"Thou  knowest  well,"  said  Eusebius,  kindly  but  with 
inexpressible  dignity,  "  that  I  have  served  thee  faithfully 
without  reward,  because  I  love  thee,  Augustus,  and  love 
the  Church  of  Christ,  and  know  assuredly  that  thine  own 
triumph  will  secure  the  triumph  of  the  faith  ! " 

"Thou  speakest  nothing  but  the  truth,  bishop,"  re- 


252  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

plied  Constantino,  his  fine  face  lighting  up  with  strong 
emotions,  "and  I  have  loved  and  honored  thee  in  my 
heart  accordingly.  Thou  knowest  that,  whenever  thou 
needest  me,  I  am  all  thine  own.  But  how  can  this  mir 
acle  that  shall  neutralize  the  emperor's  maritime  ascend 
ency  be  wrought?" 

"I  think,"  answered  Eusebius,  gravely  and  sadly, 
"that  miracles  have  recently  ceased  throughout  the  world, 
so  that  even  the  Church  of  Christ  hath  to  depend  upon 
only  human  agencies,  which  thou  knowest  was  not  for 
merly  the  case.  It  is  well  known,  however,  that  the  old 
Emperor  Licinius  doth  not  doubt  the  truth  and  divinity 
of  our  holy  religion,  although  he  hateth  the  Christians 
because  he  hath  been  persuaded  that  they  offer  up  more 
prayers  for  thee  than  for  himself.  Now,  it  hath  seemed 
probable  to  me  that  if  an  authentic  Christian  prophecy 
could  be  privately  circulated  through  the  imperial  palace 
of  Nicomedia  to  the  purport  that  the  Eastern  Empire 
would  be  overthrown  whenever  it  might  send  a  hostile 
fleet  to  ravage  the  coasts  of  Europe,  his  fear  and  hatred 
of  the  Christians  would  influence  him  to  retain  his  fleet 
at  home  in  order  to  forestall  the  prophecy.  Of  course, 
the  common  sense  of  the  matter  would  be,  as  thou  hast 
said,  for  him  to  use  his  vast  naval  strength  to  desolate 
thy  coasts  in  Greece,  Italy,  Africa,  Hispania,  and  Gaul ; 
but,  perhaps,  he  may  not  do  so.  The  matter  is  not  very 
clearly  wrought  out  in  my  mind,  but  gradually  takes 
shape  as  I  consider  it,  and  I  desire  to  see  my  brother, 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  to  con 
verse  with  him  concerning  it." 


A  NAVAL  QUESTION.  253 

"Thou  art  a  great  and  wonderful  bishop,"  said  Con- 
stantine.  "  Go  thou,  and  may  God  prosper  thee  !  Keep 
me  well  informed  of  thy  movements,  and  of  all  events  that 
happen.  Thou  shalt  have  orders  for  all  supplies,  attend 
ance,  and  money,  which  thou  canst  possibly  need  for  thy 
purposes.  If  thou  fall  into  any  trouble  at  Nicomedia,  or 
elsewhere,  have  sure  means  of  informing  me,  for  I  would 
risk  the  sovereignty  of  the  world  to  deliver  thee,  thou  in 
comparable  friend  and  bishop.  When  wilt  thou  depart  ? ' 

"Within  a  few  days,  at  most,"  said  Eusebius.  "And 
thou  shalt  do  nothing  except  to  grant  me  leave  of  ab 
sence.  We  bishops  can  further  each  other  upon  our 
journeys  quite  well,  and  I  wish  to  go  secretly  and  with 
out  attracting  notice." 

"When  thou  hast  leisure,"  said  Constantine,  "come 
unto  me  again,  and  come  prepared  to  unravel  these  ques 
tions  concerning  the  celebration  of  Easter,  and  concern 
ing  the  Godhead,  to  the  very  last  threads  of  them ;  for 
I  earnestly  desire  to  be  perfectly  informed  therein." 


17 


CHAPTEK  IIL 

THE   POLITICS  OF   RELIGION. 

A  DAY  or  two  afterward,  Eusebius  again  sought  audi 
ence  of  the  emperor,  and  in  a  long  interview,  during 
which  Constantine,  with  his  own  hand,  kept  copious  and 
accurate  memoranda  of  the  conversation,  the  bishop  care 
fully  explained  the  nature  of  the  church  controversy 
respecting  the  observance  of  Easter,  and  also  the  nature 
of  the  abstract  and  peculiar  ideas  involved  in  the  dis 
pute  concerning  the  Deity ;  and  in  the  whole  interview 
the  emperor  manifested  the  perfect  thoroughness  with 
which  his  calm,  grand  intelligence  was  accustomed  to  go 
to  the  very  bottom  of  every  matter  which  once  secured 
his  interest,  grasping  all  possible  aspects  and  relation 
ships  of  the  subject — the  evidence  upon  which  alleged 
facts  might  be  founded,  the  authority  upon  which  each 
opinion  might  rest — so  that  at  the  close  of  the  long  and 
studious  interview  he  was  as  well  informed  upon  the 
subjects  discussed  as  were  the  most  learned  ecclesiastics 
of  his  generation. 

"I  perceive,"  he  said  to  Eusebius,  "that  thou  art  an 
advocate  of  the  opinion  of  Arius  the  Libyan,  concern 
ing  what  Hosius  calleth  the  Holy  Trinity  ? " 


THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION.  255 

"Yea!"  answered  the  bishop;  "for  neither  do  the 
Gospels  teach  me,  nor  can  the  aid  of  reason  enable  me 
to  understand  that  three  are  one  any  more  than  that 
one  is  three ;  nor  can  I  evade  the  fact  that  '  Father  > 
and  'Son'  are  terms  which  of  necessity  imply  that  the 
Father  antedates  the  Son  ;  nor  can  I  believe  that  God 
the  Father  lived  in  our  flesh  and  died  upon  the  cross. 
So  that,  whenever  the  'Arian  heresy,'  as  they  call  it, 
shall  be  heard  before  a  general  council,  I  shall  be  num 
bered  among  the  heterodox,  if  it  is  indeed  possible  that 
any  council  shall  ever  condemn  the  grand  Libyan's  doc 
trines  ! " 

"I  regret  much,"  replied  the  emperor,  "that  thy  con 
science  leadeth  thee  in  that  direction,  although  the  fact 
must  never  become  a  cause  of  difference  between  thee 
and  me.  For,  while  I  would  yield  cheerful  acquiescence 
to  thy  superior  learning  about  all  merely  religious  ques 
tions,  I  perceive  already  that  the  political  aspects  of  this 
controversy  will  make  it  politic  for  me  to  maintain  the 
opinions  of  Hosius  and  his  party." 

"  What  possible  political  significance  can  exist  in  such 
an  abstract  dispute  about  matters  of  theological  faith  and 
doctrine  ?  " 

Constantino  laughed  pleasantly,  and  answered  :  "Of 
course,  a  pious  and  learned  bishop  would  sooner  perceive 
the  minutest  ramifications  of  the  theological  roots  of  any 
question  than  to  grasp  its  most  palpable  political  out 
growth.  I  will  tell  thee,  bishop,  but  the  communication  is 
for  thee  alone.  As  to  the  paschal  controversy,  it  is  a  mere 
matter  of  sentiment  or  feeling  between  those  who  do  not 


ARIUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

wish  to  follow  the  Jews  in  fixing  the  time  of  its  observance, 
and  desire  to  have  some  period  assigned  by  the  Christian  au 
thority,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and,  on  the  other,  those  who  are 
unwilling  to  depart  from  the  practice  of  three  centuries  for 
any  reason — but  these  differences  can  be  easily  reconciled. 
But,  as  to  this  other  controversy,  it  is  of  an  essentially  dif 
ferent  kind.  Thy  statement  of  it  revealed  to  me  the 
salient  fact  that  the  doctrine  of  Arius  is  that  of  the  East 
ern  Church,  the  doctrine  of  Hosius  that  of  the  Western ; 
and  a  geographical  line  might  almost  be  run  through  the 
faith  upon  this  question — Arius  and  his  party  upon  one 
side,  Hosius  and  his  upon  the  other — and  along  the  line 
itself  many  who  are  not  the  partisans  of  either  opinion. 
Thou  seest,  therefore,  that  it  is  really  a  question  between 
two  empires,  and,  whenever  it  shall  be  determined,  a  proper 
regard  for  the  prestige  of  mine  own  empire  requires  me  to 
see  that  the  decision  shall  be  in  favor  of  the  Western 
Church.  Dost  thou  now  perceive  one  plainest  and  least 
important  point  of  its  political  bearings  ?  " 

"Yea,  verily,"  answered  Eusebius.  "But  it  had  not 
occurred  to  me  before  ! " 

"After  the  matter  shall  have  been  accomplished,"  said 
Constantine,  "  many  others  shall  also  see  it,  but  not  just 
yet ;  for  it  is  the  business  of  him  who  is  fit  to  rule  not 
only  to  see,  but  to  foresee,  whatever  may  concern  his  em 
pire  ! " 

"Thou  alone  hast  seen  it  yet,"  replied  the  bishop. 
"  But  what  other  political  significance  can  the  controversy 
possibly  possess  ?" 

"  Ah  !  bishop,"  said  the  emperor,  "  it  is  the  great  ques- 


THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION.  257 

tion  of  our  age.  It  involves  in  itself  the  whole  field  of 
controversy  between  the  old  civilizations  and  the  new ; 
between  paganism  and  Christianity  ;  between  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  rulers  of  mankind.  The  doctrines  of  Arius  are  the 
utterances  of  that  primitive  Christianity  which  proclaimed 
the  fraternity  of  all  men,  condemned  war,  slavery,  and 
private-property  rights.  It  maintaineth  Jesus  as  the  king 
of  a  kingdom  established  in  the  world ;  a  real  and  actual 
government  among  the  Christian  communities,  which  may 
yield  obedience  to  laws  that  do  not  fetter  conscience,  but 
does  not  acknowledge  allegiance  to  any  human  emperor  or 
king.  Its  universal  prevalence  would  speedily  render  all 
government  over  the  people  ridiculous  and  unnecessary ; 
for  Christ  would  be  the  only  king,  and  all  men  brethren, 
free  and  equal,  as  was  the  case  in  Moasia,  under  the  apos 
tolical  Ulfilas,  until  I  was  constrained  to  send  an  army 
thither  and  force  the  Goths  to  give  up  their  communal 
organization,  and  adopt  the  Eoman  laws  and  customs. 
The  system  of  Arius,  primitive  Christianity,  dear  bishop, 
would  leave  no  room  for  Constantine  on  earth.  But  the 
doctrine  of  Hosius,  by  elevating  Jesus  to  actual  Godhead, 
leaveth  his  earthly  career  a  mere  manifestation,  or  appear 
ance,  of  the  divine  in  human  flesh  ;  and,  since  the  God 
hath  returned  to  his  former  ineffable  condition,  it  leaveth 
his  kingdom  to  be  only  a  pure  and  lofty  spiritual  phan 
tasm — and  leaves  mankind  for  Constantine  to  govern. 
Thou  seest  that  there  can  be  no  rivalry  between  the  Chris 
tianity  of  Hosius  and  the  sovereigns  of  this  world,  while 
the  faith  of  Arius  would  soon  subvert  all  human  govern 
ments,  and  dethrone  every  prince  on  earth.  Beyond  any 


258  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

question,  the  emperors,  from  Nero  to  my  own  times,  sought 
only  to  preserve  the  empire  by  persecuting  the  Christians, 
and  properly  described  Christianity  as  '  a  baleful  and  ma 
lignant  superstition,'  'a  criminal  association,'  'a  new  so 
ciety  that  departed  from  the  laws  and  ceremonies  of  our 
fathers,  inventing  a  new  government  for  itself  inconsistent 
with  the  imperial  laws  and  rights.'  They  understood  that 
Koman  sovereignty  could  not  maintain  itself  against  a 
rapidly  increasing  association  that  proposed  to  abolish  war, 
slavery,  private  rights  of  property,  offices,  rank,  and  pre 
rogative  ;  and  they  tried  to  stamp  it  out  of  existence. 
These  emperors  strove  to  defend  the  empire  by  extermi 
nating  the  Christians  ;  if  they  had  been  greater  men,  they 
would  have  adopted  the  new  religion,  pruned  it  of  all 
doctrines  that  might  menace  the  imperial  authority,  trans 
lating  Jesus  to  the  highest  heaven,  and  taking  for  them 
selves  his  place  upon  the  earth — as  I  have  done.  I  am, 
therefore,  the  champion  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  as  Hosius 
hath  defined  it ;  and  at  the  right  time  Arius  must  be  con 
demned  as  a  heretic.  For  I  will  no  more  suffer  him  to 
build  up  the  churches  of  the  East  upon  this  basis  of  primi 
tive  Christianity  than  I  would  suffer  TJlfilas  to  accomplish 
a  similar  purpose  among  the  Gothic  tribes.  Dost  thou 
now  perceive  the  political  significancy  of  this  Arian  heresy, 
my  dear  bishop  ? " 

But  Eusebius  stood  before  the  emperor  pale  and  trem 
bling,  the  cold  perspiration  standing  in  great  drops  upon 
his  pallid  brow.  For  a  moment  an  awful  mist  of  horror 
enveloped  his  struggling  soul.  Had  he,  then,  made  a  ter 
rible  mistake  in  using  his  own  large  abilities  and  influence 


THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION.  259 

to  place  the  persecuted  saints  under  the  protection  of  the 
grand  and  humane  emperor  ?  Had  he  betrayed  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  lost  his  own  soul,  in  bringing  about  that 
union  of  ecclesiastical  and  imperial  authority  which 
made  the  kingdom  of  heaven  an  appanage  of  the  Koman 
emperor,  and  had  secured  safety,  peace,  and  glory,  for 
the  Christians  by  giving  to  Constantino  the  place  that 
should  belong  only  to  Jesus  Christ  ?  Had  he  indeed  been 
overreached  and  manipulated  by  this  most  able  of  man 
kind  for  his  own  political  purposes,  even  while  he  thought 
himself  to  be  using  Constantine  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
for  the  edification  of  the  Church  ?  Sick,  doubtful,  terri 
fied,  he  faintly  answered  :  "But  the  things  which  thou 
sayest  the  doctrines  of  Arius  would  accomplish  are  pre 
cisely  the  triumph  which  our  Lord  did  promise  to  the 
Church,  and  which  he  pledged  his  divinity  to  achieve  ! 
Surely  Arius  must  be  right !  War,  slavery,  and  mammon- 
worship,  must  be  banished  out  of  the  world !  Mankind 
must  become  brethren  in  the  Lord !  The  Church  must 
triumph,  and  Christ  must  be  the  only  king ! " 

"  Not  in  my  time  ! "  said  Constantine,  with  the  calm 
ness  and  firmness  of  mature  and  deliberate  conviction  ; 
"  not  while  I  live  !  The  empire  shall  be  mine  own.  I 
will  yield  my  right  to  no  man,  human  or  divine  !  Let  the 
Church  grow  and  prepare  for  future  triumph  over  earthly 
sovereignty  when  the  scepter  shall  be  held  by  some  more 
weak  and  nerveless  hand  than  mine.  I  will  govern  while 
I  live,  both  church  and  state,  in  spite  of  gods  or  demons  ! " 

The  bishop  made  no  answer.  A  terrible  error  into 
which  he  had  gone  with  glad  heart  and  exuberant  hope 


260  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

seemed  palpably  revealed  to  him.  He  was  utterly  cowed 
and  humbled.  With  a  crushing  sense  of  self-abasement, 
shame,  mortification,  repentance,  almost  crime,  he  realized 
the  fact  that,  compared  with  that  colossal  man,  who  amused 
himself  by  playing  with  the  loftiest  emotions  of  the  human 
soul  as  he  did  with  his  ever-victorious  legions — a  man  who, 
under  his  calm,  grand  bearing,  concealed  a  devil  of  ambi 
tion  that  was  ready  to  mock  at  all  that  men  hold  sacred, 
and  even  to  hurl  his  phalanx  against  Christ  himself — he 
felt  like  a  child,  a  pygmy. 

With  ashy  lips  he  murmured  :  "  Almost  thou  hast  de 
fied  the  Son  of  God !  Beware  I " 

Then,  with  a  singular  smile  that  had  in  its  beauty  and 
light  something  of  lofty  mournfulness,  the  emperor  an 
swered  :  "  And  if  I  should  do  so,  dear  bishop,  what  then  ? 
Jesus  hath  no  power  against  me  except  through  thauma- 
turgy,  and  thou  dost  know  that  thaumaturgy  faded  out 
when  the  Church  abandoned  that  communal  system  upon 
which  Arius  insisteth  yet  so  manfully.  I  have  made  my 
choice,  and  will  abide  the  issue,  bishop.  Thou  knowest 
that  I  never  was  baptized.  I  might  have  been  a  Christian, 
but  I  preferred  to  reign  over  the  Roman  Empire ;  and  I 
will  reign  until  the  end." 

Ah  !  for  him,  then,  with  all  the  glad  assurance  born  of 
utter  ignorance  that  such  a  being  could  exist  among  man 
kind,  the  bishop  had  carefully  freighted  "the  old  ship 
Zion  "  with  the  godless  furniture  of  Roman  law  and  cus 
tom,  its  statutes  of  slavery,  its  laws  and  usages  of  war  and 
conquest,  its  idolatrous  system  of  private-property  rights, 
titles,  prerogatives,  political  and  social  class  distinctions 


THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION.  261 

between  those  whom  God  made  to  be  brethren,  out  of 
which  idolatry  the  sorrow  of  the  world  had  grown,  from 
all  of  which  Jesus  had  died  to  ransom  a  fallen  race.  He 
had  unwittingly  launched  the  freighted  ship  upon  the 
troubled  sea  of  earthly  politics.  Thinking  that  he  would 
win  the  Roman  Empire  for  the  Church,  he  had  betrayed 
and  sold  the  cause  of  Christ  to  Constantine.  Thinking 
that  he  guided  and  controlled  the  emperor,  he  had  labored 
with  all  diligence  to  make  himself  the  master's  slave.  He 
knew  it  now  only  too  well — he  knew  that  Constantine 
had  always  known  it ;  and,  appalled  by  the  vast  resources 
of  that  greatest  of  mankind,  crushed  by  the  sense  of  his 
amazing  genius,  he  seemed  unto  himself  to  grow  small, 
contemptible,  and  weak. 

And  the  ship  of  the  Church  ?  Would  she  go  down 
forever  in  the  troubled  waters,  amid  the  stormy  strife  for 
worldly  gains  and  power  ?  Or  would  she  yet,  somehow, 
sometime,  somewhere,  outride  the  tempests,  and  in  some 
unknown  and  distant  clime  reach  into  a  safe  haven  ? 
"  Not  in  my  time,"  said  Constantine  ;  "  not  while  I  live  ! " 
When,  then  ? 

These  bitter  meditations  were  broken  by  the  calm, 
sweet  voice  of  Constantine  :  "  Bishop,  thou  must  perceive 
for  thyself  that  the  radical  polity  of  the  primitive  Chris 
tianity  to  which  Arius  cleaves  unswervingly,  and  which 
Ulfilas  founded  among  the  Goths  so  firmly  that  I  had  to 
send  the  legions  thither  to  uproot  it,  was  somewhat  fanati 
cal,  or  at  least  premature,  and  not  suited  to  the  every-day 
life  of  selfish  and  wicked  men.  Thou  must  perceive,  also, 
with  equal  clearness,  that  the  splendid  ecclesiasticism 


262  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

which  I  have  established  throughout  the  Western  Empire 
in  place  of  the  primitive  religion  is  vastly  better  for  man 
kind  than  any  system  ever  before  attempted,  and  that  it 
should  be  speedily  extended  over  all  the  East.  What  fu 
ture,  grander  developments  await  the  Church,  no  mortal 
can  foretell.  For  the  present,  I  desire  of  thee  to  seek 
means  whereby  to  fan  the  flame  of  this  Arian  controversy  : 
it  must  not  die  out  until  it  can  be  summoned  before  an 
imperial  council,  and  receive  formal  condemnation  at  the 
mouths  of  all  the  bishops  called  into  a  synod  by  the  Em 
peror  of  the  west ! " 

"  And  if,  when  the  council  shall  have  been  convened, 
its  members  shall  sustain  Arius,  what  then  ?  " 

"  A  religious  war,  perhaps,"  answered  Constantine, 
"  or  a  return  unto  the  pagan  gods  ;  both  dreadful  alterna 
tives,  which  the  Church  and  the  empire  should  regard  with 
equal  horror.  But  the  council  will  never  so  decide.  I 
answer  for  its  action  ;  only  keep  thou  the  flame  of  contro 
versy  burning  until  the  proper  hour  arrives  ! " 

"I  will  contrive  means  that  shall  not  fail  to  do  so," 
answered  Eusebius,  and,  bowing  low,  at  a  sign  from  the 
emperor  he  withdrew,  overwhelmed  with  the  perception 
of  that  calm,  relentless,  almost  superhuman  sagacity  which 
Constantine  had  permitted  him  to  see. 

"  Yea  ! "  murmured  Eusebius,  "  I  will  fan  this  flame 
of  controversy !  It  shall  blaze  throughout  the  Church  ! 
And  it  may  even  happen  that  Constantine,  although  the 
greatest  of  the  human  race,  is  not  a  match  for  God.  Who 
knows  ?  Thaumaturgy  may  be  restored  to  the  Church,  or, 
even  if,  as  Constantine  asserteth,  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord 


THE  POLITICS  OF  RELIGION.  263 

was  prematurely  established,  the  spiritual  truth  of  the  gos 
pel  will  sometime  educate  mankind  up  to  the  ultimate  re 
ception  of  its  socialism  and  politics.  And  to  this  end  it 
shall  be  my  task  before  I  die  to  organize  within  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  sacred  brotherhoods,  bound  by  holy  ties  of 
chastity,  obedience,  and  poverty,  to  keep  alive  forever  the 
memory  of  that  communal  system  upon  which  Christ 
founded  his  kingdom.  At  all  events,  there  is  no  possibil 
ity  of  going  backward  now ;  and  more  than  ever  do  I  de 
sire  to  see  Constantine  obtain  the  sovereignty  of  the  East. 
And  now  for  Nicomedia  ! " 

That  very  day  the  bishop  set  out  upon  his  dangerous 
mission,  to  concert  measures  by  which  to  neutralize  the 
naval  power  of  the  Emperor  Licinius. 


CHAPTER  IV.      u-. 

THE   PROPHECY   OF   GAIUS. 

PROCEEDING,  therefore,  with  all  diligence,  not  very 
many  days  afterward,  the  Bishop  of  Gaesarea  arrived  at 
Nicomedia,  and  straightway,  by  the  use  of  certain  secret 
means  of  communication  which  were  well  known  to  all 
Christians,  he  found,  and  took  up  his  abode  with,  Eusebius 
of  that  city ;  and  they  together  discussed  at  great  length 
what  means  might  be  used  to  neutralize  the  naval  power 
of  the  tyrant  Licinius. 

Eusebius  of  Caesarea  had  been  absent  for  many 
months,  and  Constantine  had  begun  to  grow  impatient 
at  his  long  delay,  during  which  he  had  received  no  tid 
ings  from  the  bishop  personally,  and  had  heard  noth 
ing  concerning  him,  except  that  he  was  quietly  residing 
in  the  city  with  the  other  Eusebius.  And  the  emperor, 
who  valued  his  bishop  highly,  and  enjoyed  his  compan 
ionship  more  than  that  of  any  other  man,  began  to  fear 
that  the  revelation  of  his  own  real  character  and  pur 
poses,  which  he  had  made  at  their  last  memorable  inter 
view,  had  alienated  his  friend  forever,  and  thereby  deprived 
himself  of  the  services  which  he  deemed  to  be  almost  in 
valuable.  It  gave  him  unmingled  pleasure,  therefore,  to 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS.  265 

receive  upon  a  certain  day  a  written  message  that  "Euse- 
bius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  sent  by  his  brother  Eusebius 
Pamphilus,  craves  audience  of  the  emperor."  Constan- 
tine  eagerly  ordered  that  he  be  admitted,  and,  having  dis 
missed  all  others,  he  gave  the  bishop  a  very  cordial  greet 
ing,  and  then  said,  with  greatest  interest  and  solicitude  : 
"  Tell  me  first  of  all  of  thy  brother,  my  friend  the  Bishop 
of  Caesarea !  Where  now  is  the  holy  and  able  man  ?  Is 
he  well?  What  doeth  he  ? " 

The  bishop  was  somewhat  lacking  in  the  courtly  ele 
gance  that  characterized  his  brother,  but  still  had  a  certain 
ease  born  of  good  sense  and  honesty  of  purpose,  and  he 
answered  in  a  straightforward  and  intelligent  way  that 
pleased  Constantine,  and  enabled  him  instantly  to  "  take 
the  measure  of  the  man,"  and  value  him  at  once  at  his  full 
worth,  a  thing  he  was  not  always  able  to  do  with  the  other 
Eusebius. 

"The  bishop,  my  brother,  fared  well  when  I  last  saw 
him.  We  parted  at  Nicomedia — he  to  go  unto  Alexandria, 
'upon  the  emperor's  business,' he  said;  I  to  come  hither 
by  his  desire.  He  sendeth  love  and  reverence  unto  thee, 
'  the  greatest  of  mankind,'  as  he  saith  ;  and  hath  sent  me 
hither  because  he  thought  that  the  things  which  I  am  re 
quested  to  tell  thee  ought  not  to  be  committed  to  writ 
ing,  nor  intrusted  to  any  ordinary  messenger.  Whenever 
thou  desirest  to  hear  it,  I  will  briefly  narrate  what  hath 
happened  at  Nicomedia." 

"  I  am  alone  with  thee,  bishop,  to  hear  thy  report. 
Proceed  with  thy  narrative  at  once.  But  first  be  thou 
seated,  and  partake  of  such  refreshments  as  thou  wilt." 


266  ARICJS  THE  LIBYAN. 

" Nay,"  answered  the  bishop,  "I  need  naught  except 
thine  own  attention. " 

"  Then  sit  thou  there,  and  count  upon  an  eager  list 
ener." 

"  The  business  upon  which  thy  bishop  came  unto  me 
having  been  carefully  unfolded  by  him,  the  delay  therein 
was  caused  by  the  necessity  of  sending  far  beyond  Antioch 
for  a  fitting  person  to  accomplish  that  upon  which  we  had 
agreed  as  necessary  for  thy  service  ;  but  it  hath  been  done. 
The  great  fleet  of  the  Emperor  Liciiiius  hath  been  so  far 
neutralized  that  not  a  ship  thereof  will  cross  the  sea  to 
molest  thy  coasts  if  there  should  be  war.  On  that  thou 
mayst  implicitly  rely." 

"  Tell  me  the  means  by  which  this  most  important 
work  hath  been  accomplished ;  and  spare  thou  no  details 
of  the  business  :  my  only  wish  now  is  to  hear  thee  fully  !  " 

"  It  happened  more  than  a  year  ago,"  said  the  bishop, 
"  that  I  received  letters  from  a  presbyter  at  Chalcis,  far 
beyond  Antioch  in  Syria,  concerning  a  most  singular  youth 
of  that  village,  who  was  an  epileptic — a  devout  Christian, 
but  of  strange  fancies  and  of  extraordinary  appearance. 
This  lad,  the  presbyter  informed  me,  during  the  paroxysms 
of  his  disease  seemed  to  be  possessed  by  some  sort  of  a 
spirit  of  divination,  and  the  Church  there  had  vainly  at 
tempted  to  exorcise  the  spirit ;  for  thaumaturgy  hath  re 
cently  been  lost.  But  the  presbyter  himself  had  little  faith 
in  his  prophetic  powers,  because  he  had  discovered  that  it 
was  possible,  by  strongly  impressing  the  mind  of  the  youth, 
before  the  paroxysms  came  upon  him,  with  some  peculiar 
and  striking  thought,  to  anticipate  the  subject,  and  often 


THE  PROPHECY   OF  GAIUS.  267 

even  the  very  words,  of  his  supposed  prophetic  ravings. 
Now,  when  the  bishop  unfolded  to  me  what  he  desired  to 
attempt  for  thy  service,  I  at  once  thought  of  this  Syrian 
youth,  and  judged  that  he  might  be  advantageously  used 
therein.  The  sending  of  a  messenger  to  Chalcis  for  him 
wrought  some  delay,  and,  when  the  messenger  reached  that 
place,  the  youth  had  gone  elsewhere ;  and  it  was  a  work 
of  time  to  discover  him,  and  might,  indeed,  have  been  im 
possible,  but  for  a  certain  notoriety  bestowed  upon  him  by 
the  strange  misfortune  under  which  he  labored.  And,  after 
we  had  received  the  youth  at  Nicomedia,  it  was  a  work  of 
time,  and  care,  and  patience,  to  secure  his  entire  confi 
dence,  and  train  him  properly  for  the  business  we  had 
undertaken.  Do  I  state  the  matter  too  minutely  for  thy 
patience  ?  " 

" Nay,"  said  Constantino  ;  "it  is  wonderfully  interest 
ing.  Thou  need  have  no  fear  that  thy  narrative  will  weary 
me  :  I  do  desire  to  hear  thee  fully." 

"  We  found  by  frequent  experiments,"  continued  Euse- 
bius,  "  that  the  paroxysms  of  the  youth's  disease  were  not 
strictly  periodical,  but  that  any  sudden,  strong  emotion 
was  liable  to  bring  on  an  attack.  We  found  that  when  we 
had  made  him  memorize  certain  words  beforehand,  he  was 
liable,  on  the  increment  of  his  disease,  to  repeat  just  those 
words  in  a  sort  of  chanting  tone,  the  melody  and  manner 
of  which  were  very  impressive,  even  when  the  words  them 
selves  were  unmeaning.  We  found  that  he  was  ready  to 
do  or  suffer  anything  if  persuaded  that  it  would  be  for  the 
good  of  the  Church.  We  kept  the  youth  in  safe  retreat, 
carefully  secluded,  so  that  he  might  remain  entirely  un- 


268  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

known  in  Nicomedia.  We  then  constantly  assured  him 
that  God  was  able  to  accomplish  his  own  designs  by  using 
even  the  most  humble  agencies,  and  that  no  man  had  the 
right  to  look  upon  himself  as  a  being  too  insignificant  to 
work  for  the  glory  of  his  Creator ;  and  that  even  he,  al 
though  sorely  afflicted,  by  zeal  and  faithfulness  might  be 
able  some  time  to  perform  a  great  service  to  the  persecuted 
Church.  He  eagerly  inquired  how  that  might  be,  and  was 
manifestly  ready  to  seek  for  martyrdom  if  that  had  been 
the  duty  enjoined  upon  him.  But  we  carefully  impressed 
upon  him  that  all  that  was  required  of  him  was  to  memo 
rize  and  constantly  repeat  a  certain  form  of  words  that  we 
dictated  to  him  ;  to  meditate  upon  them  day  and  night ; 
to  suffer  nothing  else  to  occupy  his  thoughts  ;  and  to  wait 
in  faith  and  hope  the  result  of  this  discipline.  We  in 
structed  him  that,  if  any  one  should  ask  him  about  the 
words  he  might  utter  when  the  fit  was  on  him,  to  say 
nothing,  except  that  he  was  moved  so  to  speak ;  if  any 
should  ask  him  whom  he  knew  in  Nicomedia,  he  was  to 
answer,  '  Eusebius  the  bishop '  ;  and  that  in  answer  to 
every  question  pat  to  him  he  should  tell  the  exact  truth. 
We  soon  found  that,  whenever  he  suffered  under  a  parox 
ysm  of  his  malady,  he  would  fall  to  the  ground  and  pres 
ently  repeat  in  that  sad,  wailing  chant  that  seemed  to  be 
natural  to  him,  the  very  words  which  we  had  dictated  to 
him,  and  no  others." 

"  What  words  were  these  ?  "  asked  Constantino. 

"The  words,"  replied  Eusebius,  "were  as  follows: 
*  Joy  to  the  land  of  Syria  !  Joy  to  the  holy  ones  of  Egypt ! 
for  their  deliverer  cometh  !  When  the  great  ships  shall 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS.  269 

cross  the  middle  sea,  the  tyrant's  power  shall  fail,  and  a 
holy  emperor  shall  add  the  East  unto  his  Western  Empire  ! 
Joy  to  Syria  and  to  Egypt,  when  the  great  ships  shall  cross 
the  middle  sea  !  * 

"  Having  experimented  with  the  lad  until  it  seemed  to 
be  morally  certain  that,  under  the  influence  of  a  parox 
ysm  of  his  disease,  he  would  chant  these  words  only,  we 
directed  him  to  go  daily  to  the  gate  which  opened  into  the 
grounds  surrounding  the  imperial  palace  at  Nicomedia, 
until  he  might  see  the  Emperor  Licinius  about  to  come 
forth,  and  that  then  he  should  boldly  force  his  way 
through  the  gates,  at  any  hazard,  without  offering  saluta 
tions  or  explanation  to  any  one.  This  the  youth  prom 
ised  faithfully  to  do  ;  and  it  happened  that,  the  first  time 
he  went  thither,  he  saw  one  whom  he  supposed  to  be  the 
emperor,  coming  forth  accompanied  by  a  throng  of  attend 
ants,  and  he  rushed  forward  so  impetuously  that  the  em 
peror  was  compelled  to  give  place  to  him ;  and  then  a 
soldier  knocked  down  the  poor  lad  with  the  pole  of  his 
pike.  Licinius  stopped  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  an  in 
trusion  so  bold  and  unusual,  and  the  pain  of  the  blow  and 
the  excitement  of  the  situation  brought  upon  the  youth 
one  of  his  strange  attacks,  and  while  he  lay  writhing  and 
twisting  about  upon  the  paving-stones,  in  a  loud,  weird 
voice,  whose  unearthly  melody  filled  all  the  place,  he 
chanted  the  words  that  had  been  taught  to  him  :  '  Joy  to 
the  land  of  Syria !  Joy  to  the  holy  ones  of  Egypt  !  for 
their  deliverer  cometh  !  When  the  great  ships  shall  cross 
the  middle  sea,  the  tyrant's  power  shall  fail,  and  a  holy 

emperor  shall  add  the  East  unto  his  Western  Empire  !    Joy 
18 


270  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

to  Syria  and  to  Egypt,  when  the  great  ships  shall  cross  the 
middle  sea  !  '  Then  a  centurion  sprang  forward,  and 
would  have  slain  the  youth  with  his  sword,  but  Licinius 
waved  him  off,  and  stood  looking  upon  the  singular  lad 
with  interest  and  wonder.  And  the  youth  flopped  up  off 
of  the  ground  like  a  fish,  and  fell  back  heavily,  and  almost 
immediately  resumed  his  wild,  sweet  chanting  of  the  self 
same  words  ;  and  a  profound  silence  obtained  until  his  song 
was  ended.  And  very  soon  that  paroxysm  passed  off,  and 
the  lad  arose,  and  looked  about  him,  as  if  he  knew  not 
where  he  was  nor  how  he  came  to  be  there." 

Constantino  laughed  a  low,  joyous,  almost  boyish  laugh, 
exclaiming :  "A  superb  performance,  indeed !  A  mas 
terly  thing  !  But  continue  thy  most  welcome  narrative  ! " 
"  Then  the  Emperor  Licinius,  whose  features  are 
bronzed,  and  hard,  and  cruel,  looked  steadily  upon  the 
abashed  young  man,  saying  in  a  stern,  imperious  voice, 
'  Who  art  thou  ? ' 

"  And  the  lad  answered,  '  I  am  Gaius,  a  poor  youth 
of  Chalcis  in  Syria  ! ' 

"  '  Knowest  thou  to  whom  thou  art  speaking  ? ' 
"  ' Nay,  verily,'  answered  Gaius,  'but  I  suppose  thee  to 
be  the  emperor  ! ' 

"  '  What  is  thy  business  in  Nicomedia  ? ' 
"  '  I  have  no  business  anywhere,'  said  the  lad.     'I  am 
diseased,  an  invalid,  an  epileptic,  and  am  incapacitated 
for  business.     Verily  I  came  unto  Nicomedia  hoping  to  be 
cured  of  this  fearful  malady.' 

"  *  What  brought  thee  unto  our  palace-gates  ? ' 

" '  I  came  hither  to  look  upon  the  emperor,  having 


THE  PROrflEOY  OF  GAIU8.  271 

never  seen  so  great  a  man ;  but  some  cowardly  brute  did 
strike  me  down  with  a  pike  ! ' 

"  *  Why  didst  thou  chant  such  things  as  thou  hast  done 
even  in  mine  own  presence  ? ' 

"  '  What  things  did  I  chant  ?  I  know  not,  for  the 
hard  blow  brought  upon  me  an  attack  of  the  epilepsy,  and 
while  it  continueth  I  know  not  what  I  say,  but  speak  only 
as  I  am  moved  to  speak  ! ' 

"  *  What,  then,  moveth  thee  to  chant  at  all  ? ' 

"  '  I  know  not,  nor  do  I  even  know  that  I  have  done 
so,  unless  some  one  who  hath  heard  me  informeth  me 
thereof ! ' 

"  '  Whom  knowest  thou  in  my  city  of  Nicomedia  ? ' 

"  '  None  save  the  Bishop  Eusebius  ! ' 

"  *  Art  thou,  then,  a  Christian  ? ' 

"  *  Yea  !   Thanks  to  the  boundless  mercy  of  our  Lord  ! ' 

"  Then  said  the  emperor  :  *  Let  immediate  search  be 
made  for  this  Eusebius,  and  let  him  be  straightway 
brought  before  me.  Keep  ye  this  boy  in  strictest  prison, 
but  use  him  kindly  ;  for  it  may  be  that  he  hath  a  demon  ! ' 

"  I  did  not  choose  to  be  found  upon  that  day,  although 
the  city  was  sifted  well  for  that  purpose.  And  upon  the 
next  day,  Licinius  caused  the  lad  Gaius  to  be  brought  be 
fore  him,  and  he  spoke  kindly  unto  him,  saying :  '  Thou 
art  a  strange  and  interesting  youth,  and  I  desire  to  take 
thee  into  my  service,  and  to  attach  thee  unto  myself,  and 
to  care  for  thee  well.  Hast  thou  memory  good  enough  to 
keep  in  thy  mind  for  me  a  catalogue  of  more  than  three 
flundred  ships  ? ' 

*"  I  know  not,'  said  the  lad.     '  At  school  I  learned 


272  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

rapidly  and  retained  well  all  that  I  acquired ;  but  I  fear 
that  the  malady  wherewith  I  am  afflicted  hath  injured  both 
mind  and  body.' 

"  '  Let  me  test  thy  memory  somewhat  to  ascertain  thy 
capacity  for  the  service  I  would  have  thee  render.  Canst 
thou  name  the  stations  and  distances  upon  the  road  from 
Chalcis  unto  Antioch,  and  thence  unto  the  sea  ? ' 

"And  the  boy  gave  the  whole  itinerary  correctly. 
And  the  emperor  asked  of  him  a  great  many  questions 
with  exceeding  affability,  and  finally  said  unto  him : 
'Thou  hast  a  fine,  retentive  memory,  and  I  will  make  a 
man  of  thee.  See,  now,  how  much  thou  canst  remember  of 
the  song  which  thou  didst  twice  chant  on  yesterday  ! ' 

"  But  the  lad  said  :  '  I  know  not  the  words  at  all,  and 
know  not  that  I  did  chant  at  all.  All  that  occurreth  when 
the  fit  is  upon  me  is  blankuess  and  darkness,  so  that  I  know 
nothing,  and  suffer  not,  and  if  fire  were  put  upon  me,  I 
would  not  feel  any  pain  so  long  as  the  paroxysm  continu- 
eth!' 

"  Then  the  emperor  gave  way  to  wrath,  and  shouted 
furiously  :  '  Thou  liest,  villain  !  Thou  seekest  to  deceive 
me  !  Repeat  thy  chant  instantly,  or  I  will  put  thee  to 
torture  to  extract  the  truth ! ' 

"  Then  the  boy  grew  very  pale,  and  trembled,  but  he 
only  answered  :  *  Thou  demandest  of  me  that  which  is  im 
possible  !  I  do  not  know  the  words,  and  can  not  repeat 
them,  though  thou  shouldst  slay  me  ! ' 

"  Then  cried  out  the  emperor,  '  Bring  thumb-screws 
hither,  and  torment  this  wretch  ! ' 

"  Then  one  put  upon  his  thumb  that  cruel  screw,  and 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS.  273 

twisted  hard  upon  it,  and  the  boy  shrieked  with  pain. 
Then  the  fit  came  upon  him,  and  he  fell  headlong  upon 
the  floor,  and  the  torturer  removed  the  screw.  And  im 
mediately  the  boy  began,  in  a  clear,  sweet  voice  that  filled 
the  great  hall  with  music,  to  chant  the  same  words  again  : 
'  Joy  to  the  land  of  Syria !  Joy  to  the  holy  ones  of 
Egypt ! ' — and  the  emperor  sprang  forward,  and  with  the 
point  of  a  dagger  he  tore  up  a  finger-nail  of  the  boy, 
watching  his  face  intently  ;  but  the  lad's  countenance 
changed  not,  and  he  continued  his  chant  evenly  and  se 
renely.  And  the  emperor  commanded  that  fire  be  brought 
to  him  in  a  brazier,  and  he  laid  a  coal  thereof  upon  the 
boy's  naked  breast,  and  blew  upon  it  until  the  burned  flesh 
smelled  all  about,  but  the  boy  showed  no  consciousness  of 
pain,  and  continued  to  chant  sweetly  until  his  song  was 
ended.  And  for  a  short  space  the  lad  lay  as  one  dead,  and 
then  a  strong  convulsion  contorted  his  limbs,  and  lifted 
him  from  the  floor,  and  violently  cast  him  down  again ; 
and  then  once  more  he  chanted  the  same  words,  and  the 
emperor  listened  and  watched  him  with  fear  and  wonder. 
And  when  the  attack  had  passed  away,  Licinius  said  :  <  Let 
this  boy  be  guarded  carefully,  but  let  him  be  treated  with 
the  greatest  kindness;  for  surely,  beyond  any  doubt,  he 
hath  a  demon  ! ' 

"  And  the  lictors  with  great  astonishment  and  fear  led 
the  boy  away. 

"  And  having  been  fully  informed  of  all  these  things 
on  the  same  night,  by  a  Christian  whom  we  had  allowed 
to  sacrifice  and  so  retain  his  place  in  the  palace,  for  the 
good  of  the  Church,  upon  the  next  morning  went  I  up  to 


274  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

the  gates  and  boldly  demanded  admission,  declaring  to  the 
centurion  on  duty  who  I  was,  and  that  I  had  been  in 
formed  that  the  emperor  was  seeking  me  throughout  the 
city ;  and  speedily  they  brought  me  into  the  presence  of 
Licinius,  and  he  said,  '  Art  thou  Eusebius,  the  Bishop  of 
Nicomedia  ? ' 

"  <  Yea,  I  am  he  ! ' 

"  '  And  like  all  of  thy  treasonable  sect,  that  lurk  within 
my  city  of  Nicomedia,  thou  art  still  offering  up  prayers  for 
the  Emperor  Constantino  ? ' 

"  '  Yea,  doubtless  ! ' 

" '  And  thou  dost  not  pray  for  me,  nor  propitiate  God 
for  me,  thine  own  lawful  emperor,  at  all  ? ' 

"  '  Yea,  daily  I  pray  God  for  thee  that  he  would  soften 
thy  flinty  heart,  and  turn  thee  from  the  devices  of  wicked 
ness  unto  the  wisdom  of  the  just ! ' 

"  '  But  thou  prayest  not  for  my  prosperity,  and  for  the 
glory  and  perpetuity  of  mine  empire  ? ' 

"  '  Nay,  verily.  I  have  no  faith  to  pray  for  the  tri 
umph  of  the  cruel  and  of  the  wicked  ! ' 

"  Then  said  he,  '  Dost  thou  know  the  boy  Gaius  of 
Chalcis  ? ' 

"  '  Yea  !  He  was  with  me  at  my  house  until  the  third 
day  past,  but  he  hath  disappeared,  and  I  am  anxious  con 
cerning  him.' 

"  '  Is  there  anything  peculiar  about  the  boy  ? ' 

"  '  He  hath  a  peculiar  and  terrible  malady  called  epi 
lepsy  ! ' 

"  And  then  attentively  regarding  me  with  his  hard  and 
searching  eyes,  he  said,  '  Doth  the  boy  prophesy  ? ' 


THE  PROPHECY   OF  GAIUS.  275 

"  '  When  he  hath  a  paroxysm  of  his  disease  he  cus 
tomarily  chanteth  strange  things  which  some  esteem  to  be 
prophecies  ;  but  whether  his  sayings  be  truly  prophetic  or 
not  I  can  not  inform  thee.' 

"  '  Perhaps  thou  dost  remember  the  words  of  some  of 
his  pretended  prophecies  ?  ' 

"  '  Yea,  verily !  For  since  he  hath  been  with  me  he 
hath  hardly  ever  chanted  anything  but  a  certain  song 
which  I  have  heard  him  repeat  very  often  when  the  dis 
ease  taketh  him.' 

"  '  Repeat  thou  those  words  ! ' 

"  Then  with  a  certain  show  of  exultation  I  chanted  the 
same  words  that  Gaius  had  uttered,  and,  when  I  had  fin 
ished,  Licinius  cried  out  fiercely,  *  Thou  dost  believe,  in 
deed,  that  the  words  of  Gaius  are  a  sure  prophecy,  and 
thou  dost  rejoice  at  my  threatened  overthrow  ! ' 

"  I  looked  smilingly  upon  the  emperor,  but  made  no 
answer ;  and  thereupon  he  fell  into  a  great  rage  and  said 
unto  me,  grimly  enough  :  '  Thou  art  a  tall  man,  bishop  ! 
Verily,  I  think  thou  art  fully  a  head  too  tall,  and  this  day 
I  will  reduce  thee  to  a  more  proper  stature  by  cutting  off 
thy  head ' ;  and  when  he  saw  that  I  was  unterrified  by  this 
threat,  he  added,  '  And  the  boy's  head  also  ! ' 

"  Then  gazing  fixedly  upon  him,  I  did  say :  '  Surely 
thou  mayst  do  so,  for  thou  art  a  blood-soaked,  merciless 
tyrant  enough  for  any  crime.  But  this  deed  would  make 
thee  contemptible ;  for  it  would  prove  that  thou  art  not 
only  a  tyrant,  but  also  a  fool ! ' 

"  Then  turning  almost  livid  with  suppressed  wrath, 
he  cried  out,  *  What  dost  thou  mean,  thou  insolent  ? ' 


276  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  '  I  mean  that  some  years  ago  when  the  bold  and  elo 
quent  preaching  of  the  brave  and  righteous  presbyter, 
Arius  the  Libyan,  did  operate  to  save  for  thee  a  large  part 
of  thy  fleet,  thou  didst  order  that  he  should  never  be  mo 
lested  in  the  public  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  sacred 
office ;  wherefore,  even  the  Christians,  who  knew  thee  to 
be  a  bloody  tyrant,  and  a  desecrator  of  the  sacrament  of 
marriage  by  an  infamous  law,  and  a  violator  of  all  the 
sanctities  and  decencies  of  life,  still  did  give  thee  credit 
for  intelligence.  But  if  now  thou  shalt  murder  those  who, 
even  unintentionally,  have  given  thee  warning  in  time  to 
save  thy  whole  navy,  all  men  will  regard  thee  as  an  idiot.' 

"  '  How  save  my  whole  navy  ?' 

"  '  By  keeping  the  ships  thereof  upon  thine  own  side 
of  the  Mediterranean  ;  for  the  words  are,  "  when  the  great 
ships  shall  cross  the  middle  sea,"  and  perhaps  it  may  sig 
nify  not  until  then?' 

"  '  By  Jupiter  Stator,'  he  answered,  vehemently,  '  I 
think  that  thou  art  right !  And  that  accursed  "  when  " 
shall  never  happen.  For  this  honest  saying  of  thine, 
thou  mayst  go  hence  free,  and  take  the  lad  Gaius  with 
thee  ! ' 

"  And  thereupon  I  withdrew ;  but  I  am  certainly  ad 
vised  that  his  purpose  holds  good  never  to  send  his  fleet 
across  the  Mediterranean." 

"  How  dost  thou  know  that  ?"  asked  Constantino,  ea 
gerly. 

"  We  waited  many  weeks,"  replied  Eusebius,  "  to  ob 
tain  some  reliable  indications  of  his  purposes  ;  but  the  Em 
peror  Licinius  is  a  great  commander,  and  men  drilled  in 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS.  277 

military  services  talk  cautiously  even  when  drunk,  as  he 
frequently  is,  so  that  we  got  nothing.  Finally,  a  centurion 
came  one  night  to  mine  abode,  which  I  had  caused  to  be 
publicly  known,  and  with  great  courtesy  informed  me 
that  the  emperor  had  sent  him  to  bring  me  into  his  pres 
ence.  Having  dismissed  all  others,  as  if  the  matter  were 
most  secret,  he  said  :  '  I  know  ye  Christian  bishops  love 
not  me,  and  that  ye  offer  prayers  for  Constantine ;  yet  I  do 
not  think  that  thou  wouldst  lie  to  me.  I  therefore  tell 
thee  that,  since  thou  wert  last  before  me,  I  sent  an  embassy 
secretly  unto  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  with  many  costly  gifts, 
asking  of  the  oracle  what  success  I  would  have  if  I  should 
send  my  navy  against  the  Western  Empire ;  and  I  desire 
thee  to  read  and  to  construe  the  answer  of  the  god.'  Then 
he  gave  unto  me  a  parchment  on  which  was  written, 
'  When  the  navy  of  the  Emperor  Licinius  shall  pass  over 
the  sea  to  war  with  the  Emperor  Constantine,  his  empire 
shall  be  overthrown.'  I  read  the  oracle,  and  laughed. 
Then  said  I  unto  him  :  '  Like  all  of  the  pretended  oracles 
of  the  heathen,  it  is  simply  an  evasion.  Of  course,  if 
two  great  emperors  engage  in  war,  one  of  them  must  be 
overthrown.  This  oracle  saith  not  which  of  them.  If 
the  Western  Empire  be  defeated,  the  priests  will  say, 
"We  foretold  that."  But  if  the  Eastern  Empire  shall 
be  subverted,  they  will  just  as  truly  say,  "We  foretold 
that."' 

"  '  Art  thou  certain  that  the  language  bears  one  con 
struction  as  naturally  and  grammatically  as  it  does  the 
other?' 

"  '  Assuredly  so  !    The  Latin  infinitive  mood  with  the 


278  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

accusative  case  possesses  a  wonderful  facility  for  such  a 
construction  as  may  signify  either  one  thing  or  the 
other.' 

"  Then  he  gave  way  to  sudden  wrath,  and  cried  aloud  : 
*  Curses  on  the  lying,  cheating  oracles  by  which  so  many 
mighty  men  have  been  lured  into  destruction  ! '  And, 
fixing  his  eyes  upon  me,  he  continued,  ( Was  there  any 
such  ambiguity  in  what  thy  boy  Gaius  chanted  ? ' 

"  'Nay,  verily,'  I  answered.  'He  said,  "A  holy  em 
peror  shall  add  the  East  unto  his  Western  Empire." 
Thou  canst  not  add  the  East  unto  anything,  although 
thou  mightest  add  something  to  the  East ;  but  canst  add 
nothing  to  the  Western  Empire,  which  is  not  thine  own, 
and  thou  art  not  a  "  holy  emperor  ! " ' 

"  '  It  is  only  a  cursed  trick  of  the  oracle  to  lure  me 
on  to  ruin  ! '  he  exclaimed.  '  The  Emperor  Constantine 
hath  bribed  the  god  to  influence  me  so  that  he  may  in 
vade  and  overthrow  mine  empire  while  my  fleet  is  far 
away.  I  will  keep  mine  own  coasts  safe  with  wooden 
walls  henceforth,  and  not  a  ship  shall  cross  the  middle 
sea.' 

"  Then  he  said  unto  me  :  '  Thou  seem'st  an  honest  and 
fair-minded  man,  and  henceforth  thou  may'st  practice  thy 
religion  publicly  in  my  city  of  Nicomedia  without  fear 
or  molestation.  So  fare  thee  well.' 

"  I  think  that  this  completeth  my  account,  except  I 
should  add  that  from  the  very  beginning  of  this  matter 
the  Emperor  Licinius  hath  zealously  endeavored  to  keep 
it  all  profoundly  secret,  so  that  it  is  known  to  very 
few." 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAITJS.  279 

Then  said  Constantine  unto  the  bishop  :  "  What  didst 
thou  mean  by  saying  to  the  emperor,  '  The  Christians 
who  knew  thee  to  be  a  bloody  tyrant,  and  the  desecrator 
of  the  sacrament  of  marriage  by  an  infamous  law '  ? 
What  law  was  that?" 

And  Eusebius  answered  :  "  He  hath  revived  the  former 
law  of  Maximin,  that  'no  woman  of  rank  should  marry 
without  the  emperor's  consent,'  and  for  the  same  infa 
mous  purpose,  ut  ipse  in  omnibus  nuptiis  prcegustator 
esset ;  and  this  licentiousness  hath  done  more  to  set  the 
Church  against  the  emperor  than  even  the  murder  of 
the  bishops." 

"How  strange,"  said  Constantine,  "that  men  should 
think  themselves  fit  to  govern  an  empire  who  can  not  even 
govern  their  own  brutal  passions ! " 

Then  the  great  emperor  indulged  in  long-continued 
laughter,  not  loud  nor  vociferous,  but  quiet,  hearty,  joy 
ous,  and  exultant.  But,  soon  resuming  his  usual  equa 
nimity,  he  said  unto  the  bishop  :  "  Thou  art  the  most 
welcome  messenger  that  hath  ever  come  unto  me  since 
thy  brother  of  Caesarea  did  first  visit  me  in  Gaul  before 
the  overthrow  of  Maxentius.  Tell  me  what  great  favor 
worthy  of  Rome's  emperor  I  can  do  for  thee." 

Then  Eusebius,  with  glowing  countenance,  bent  low, 
and  seizing  the  emperor's  hand  he  kissed  it  fervently,  ex 
claiming,  "  Stretch  forth  thy  mighty  hand,  Augustus, 
and  free  the  persecuted  churches  of  the  East ! " 

Constantine  was  deeply  moved,  and  answered  :  "  It 
shall  be  done,  bishop  !  Trust  me,  it  shall  be  done  !  But 
I  have  given  order  for  thy  fitting  entertainment,  and 


280  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

while  thou  shalt  rest  and  refresh  thyself,  think  of  some 
personal  favor  I  can  do  for  thee." 

Eusebius  bowed  gravely  and  withdrew. 

The  emperor  was  alone,  seated,  buried  in  profoundest 
meditation.  For  a  long  time  he  was  silent,  and  then  his 
deep  thought  found  utterance  in  murmured  words  :  "A 
wonderful  faith,  truly,  that  can  bind  the  heart  and  in 
tellect  of  even  able  men  like  the  Eusebii  in  absolute 
slavery  to  an  idea,  so  that  Christ  and  the  Church  are 
first  in  all  their  thoughts  and  purposes  ;  and  ease,  com 
fort,  wealth,  and  power,  and  even  life  and  death,  are 
trifling  things  compared  therewith  !  If  any  God  exists, 
these  Christians  surely  have  discovered  him  in  Jesus. 
But  I  am  sufficient  for  myself,  and  need  no  Deity." 

Then  he  was  silent  again  for  some  time  longer.  But 
suddenly  he  gave  way  to  jubilant  merriment,  murmuring 
amid  his  laughter  :  "It  was  a  superb  farce,  that  proph 
ecy  of  Gaius !  Better  than  the  Legio  Fulminea.  Bet 
ter  even  than  the  Labarum  !  Surely  the  fine,  Grecian 
hand  of  my  Eusebius  hath  only  acquired  a  more  delicate 
touch  with  his  advancing  years ! "  And  the  great  em 
peror  continued  to  laugh  merrily. 

But  neither  pain  nor  pleasure  ever  interfered  with 
the  grand  game  of  empire  ;  and  before  midnight  orders 
had  been  framed  and  issued  by  which  the  veteran  legions 
of  Hispania,  Gaul,  and  Germany  were  to  be  gradually  re 
placed  by  more  recent  levies  ;  by  which  the  brave  and 
hardy  Goths  were  put  upon  the  most  rigid  military  dis 
cipline  ;  and  by  which  all  the  chosen  troops,  upon  whose 
skill  and  valor  the  unconquerable  leader  would  be  willing 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  GAIUS.  281 

to  stake  the  sovereignty  of  the  world,  were  slowly  con 
centrated  to  the  eastward  of  Milan  by  a  quiet,  steady, 
unostentatious  military  movement  that  consumed  months 
in  its  accomplishment  and  scarcely  excited  the  suspicions 
of  even  the  vigilant  and  intelligent  agents  of  the  Em 
peror  Licinius. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  BOBSf   ECCLESIASTIC. 

IN  the  year  A.  D.  319,  Alexander,  the  old  and  pious 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  having  become  imbued  with  that 
Trinitarianism  which  began  to  assume  a  sort  of  doctrinal 
prominence  in  the  Western  Church  even  from  the  time 
when  Constantine  had  defeated  Maxentius  and  had  so  be 
come  Emperor  of  Rome,  publicly  proclaimed  this  dogma 
wherever  he  went.  During  that  year,  upon  one  of  his 
episcopal  visits,  he  preached  in  the  Baucalis  church  a 
sermon  which  gave  great  offense  to  Arius  the  Libyan, 
who  was  presbyter  thereof,  and  to  many  of  the  vast  and 
opulent  congregation.  Upon  the  following  Sabbath  the 
presbyter  had  delivered  an  elaborate  discourse,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  inveighed  with  great  force  and  ear 
nestness  against  some  "expounders  of  new  doctrines  who 
had  grown  too  learned  in  the  philosophy  of  the  world, 
and  too  much  in  love  with  the  political  and  legal  reli 
gion  which  had  been  established  in  place  of  Christianity 
in  the  Western  Empire  to  remain  satisfied  with  the  sim 
ple,  unquestionable  statement  of  the  Gospels  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  Son  of  God ;  and  had  gone  about  to 
trouble  the  faith  and  harass  the  consciences  of  believers 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  283 

by  novel  and  dangerous  speculations  concerning  the  nature 
of  Deity  that  were  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures  and  were 
unknown  to  three  centuries  of  Christian  faith  and  prac 
tice."  And,  although  Arius  mentioned  not  the  venerable 
bishop  by  name,  no  one  doubted  for  whom  his  fierce  re 
buke  was  intended,  and  understood  perfectly  well  what 
doctrinal  deliverances  he  condemned  as  "  the'  philosophy 
of  the  world,"  as  "the  political  and  legal  religion  which 
had  been  established  in  the  Western  Empire,"  and  as 
"not  taught  in  the  Scriptures,"  and  as  "unknown  to 
three  centuries  of  Christian  faith  and  practice."  To  this 
sermon  the  bishop  subsequently  replied  in  language  of 
even  greater  vehemence ;  and  before  very  long  there  was 
a  continuous  controversy  going  on  between  them,  in 
which  numerous  Christians  engaged  on  both  sides,  until 
it  spread  throughout  the  churches  and  grew  into  heated 
and  sometimes  acrimonious  disputations.  Nearly  all  the 
Romans  in  Alexandria  took  part  with  the  bishop,  and 
urged  him  earnestly  in  the  prosecution  of  the  contro 
versy,  while  the  native  Christians,  for  the  most  part, 
clave  unto  Arius;  and  the  word  "foreigner,"  which  be 
fore  that  time  was  never  applied  by  one  Christian  to 
another  (for  they  were  all  brethren),  quickly  crept  into 
common  use. 

The  superior  learning,  zeal,  and  influence  of  the  pres 
byter  greatly  outweighed  the  personal  and  episcopal  power 
of  the  bishop,  and  a  vast  majority  of  the  Alexandrian 
clergy  and  laity  sustained  the  views  of  Arius  as  the  only 
true  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  as  approved  by  the  ancient 
and  constant  teachings  of  the  Church  ;  and  the  controversy 


284  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

might  have  sunk  into  oblivion  but  for  the  "  foreign  "  ele 
ment,  many  of  whom  really  seemed  to  make  it  their  chief 
vocation  to  proclaim  the  great  truth  of  "  the  Holy  Trin 
ity,"  and  to  utter  eloquent  panegyrics  upon  the  character 
of  Constantine  the  Emperor  of  Rome.  Under  these  influ 
ences  each  party  steadily  maintained  its  own  opinions,  and 
the  matter  remained  in  this  condition  until  Eusebius  of 
Caesarea,  having  parted  from  the  other  Eusebius  at  Nico- 
media,  had  journeyed  unto  Alexandria  to  redeem  his  prom 
ise  made  to  the  emperor  that  the  flame  of  controversy 
should  be  kept  burning  until  a  general  council  could  be 
convoked  to  determine  it.  Eusebius  very  soon  compre 
hended  the  situation,  and  speedily  reached  the  conclusion 
that  even  his  superior  official  station  and  the  support  of  the 
"  foreigners "  would  not  enable  the  bishop  long  to  main 
tain  himself  against  the  vast  power  and  influence  of  the 
presbyter  without  efficient  aid.  That,  he  thought,  could 
not  be  effectively  rendered  except  by  some  man  of  rare 
abilities,  who  might  combine  in  himself  all  the  charac 
teristics  of  a  courtier  as  well  as  of  a  priest,  for  the 
"foreign  element"  was  already  largely  secularized;  and 
he  very  anxiously  looked  about  him  for  some  man  fit  to 
be  intrusted  with  the  task  of  upholding  the  hands  of  the 
venerable  Alexander. 

Of  course  our  Eusebius  had  duly  renewed  his  ancient 
friendship  for  Arius,  whom  he  loved  and  honored  above 
all  living  men,  and  they  had  many  interesting  conversa 
tions  upon  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  Church, 
and  upon  the  present  duties  of  the  faithful  pastor. 
Eusebius  skillfully  argued  in  favor  of  accommodating 


A  BOKN  ECCLESIASTIC.  285 

priestly  action  to  the  exigencies  of  social  and  political 
surroundings.  Arius  would  hear  of  no  compromise  upon 
any  point  of  either  faith  or  practice.  "Pontius  Pilate," 
he  vehemently  exclaimed,  "  was  the  prince  of  compro 
misers  when  he  washed  his  hands  of  '  the  innocent  blood,' 
and  delivered  up  our  Lord  to  be  crucified  !  His  success 
ors  are  in  all  things  worthy  of  him,  seeking  both  to  win 
the  world  by  their  actions  and  to  save  their  souls  by  the 
profession  of  a  faith  which  they  do  not  practice  !  How 
fare  ye  bishops  under  the  reign  of  Antichrist — ye  that 
dwell  where  Satan's  seat  is  ?  " 

"  The  Church  hath  prospered  beyond  all  expectation. 
The  bishops  almost  rank  with  princes ;  the  presbyters  are 
blessed  with  exceeding  comfort  and  honor,  and  through 
out  the  Western  Empire  the  people  crowd  into  the 
churches  faster  than  they  can  be  built." 

Then  the  grim  old  presbyter's  hand  waved  to  and 
fro,  and  his  grand,  shaggy  head  darted  forward  upon  the 
long,  lean  neck,  and  the  sad  eyes  gleamed  with  strange, 
mesmeric  light,  and  his  voice  hissed  with  sibilant  sharp 
ness  as  he  exclaimed  :  "  Yea,  my  brother !  And  I  have 
heard  that  your  prince-bishops  own  slaves  and  nourish 
concubines ;  and  that  '  the  brethren '  hold  estates  and 
offices,  and  fleece  their  brethren  by  the  crime  of  usury  ; 
and  that  the  only  difference  between  Romans  who  are 
Christians  and  those  who  are  not  subsists  in  the  fact 
that  one  class  of  them  patronizes  the  imperial  churches 
and  professes  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  other  does  not  de 
grade  itself  and  dishonor  religion  by  any  such  shams  and 

farces  !    Are  these  things  so  ?" 
19 


286  ARIU8  THE  LIBYAN. 

Eusebius  winced  at  this  fierce  and  bitter  thrust,  but 
answered :  "  Some  abuses  have  crept  in  among  us,  in 
consequence  of  our  wonderful  prosperity,  which  were  un 
known  to  the  severity  and  simplicity  of  an  earlier  age  ; 
but  we  have  many  saintly  bishops,  presbyters,  and  peo 
ple  ;  and  the  evils  of  which  thou  speakest  belong  not  to 
the  Church,  but  to  the  frailty  of  individuals." 

"  Thou  art  verily  mistaken,  brother !  Or  what  dost 
thou  expect  from  a  statutory  religion,  from  an  estab 
lished  church  of  which  Constantine  is  king  instead  of 
Christ  ?  I  tell  thee  plainly  that  a  church  which  impe 
rial  authority  hath  legalized  along  with  legalized  war, 
slavery,  and  mammon- worship,  is  not  only  no  church  of 
Christ,  but  is  that  Antichrist  of  which  John  in  the 
Apocalypse  doth  speak.  And  it  shall  grow  continually 
worse  and  worse." 

"  I  doubt  not,"  answered  Eusebius,  "  that  it  would 
have  been  better  to  have  preserved  primitive  Christi 
anity  ;  but  the  emperor  is  so  powerful,  and  ecclesiasticism 
hath  become  insensibly  so  firmly  established,  that  it  is 
impossible  now  to  turn  back  to  the  original  system,  per 
haps  dangerous  to  attempt  it." 

"Yea,  dangerous,"  said  Arius,  bitterly.  "For  al 
ready  he  hath  persecuted  the  saints,  having  waged  a 
cruel  war  against  the  Goths  to  overthrow  the  church 
which  Ulfilas  planted  among  them,  and  force  them  to 
adopt  the  Koman  laws  and  legal  religion.  I  look  for 
ward  every  year  to  see  this  man  of  sin  build  a  new 
capital,  upon  seven  hills,  above  the  sea,  that  John's 
description  of  him  may  be  made  complete.  Thou  must 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  287 

follow  thine  own  counsel,  brother.  As  for  me,  in  life, 
in  death,  I  am  fixed  in  unflinching  opposition  to  any 
name  of  blasphemy  that  may  be  used  to  designate  a 
legal  religion  that  sanctions  war,  slavery,  and  mammon- 
worship.  " 

Many  such  conversations  occurred  between  the  bishop 
and  Arius ;  but  Eusebius  found  that  the  stern  old  man 
was  incapable  of  compromise,  and  despised  all  expedi 
ency. 

"  Yea,"  he  would  say,  "  I  have  been  told  that  ye 
Western  Christians  already  believe  that  charity  consisteth 
of  alms-giving,  instead  of  love  to  the  brethren  !  .  .  . 

"Ye  foolishly  dream  of  converting  the  world,"  he 
cried,  "  by  means  of  a  church  founded  upon  Roman 
laws,  whose  faith  is  a  mere  intellectual  assent  and  con 
viction  !  But  ye  will  find  that  instead  of  securing 
liberty,  fraternity,  equality,  ye  have  only  added  the  bond 
of  conscience  to  bind  the  burdens  more  tightly  upon  the 
shoulders  of  mankind,  and  furnished  the  new  Pharisees 
with  new  power  to  oppress  the  poor.  .  .  . 

"Yea,  verily,"  he  said,  "ye  know  that  faith  in  Christ 
and  community  of  property  constituted  the  liberty  of  the 
gospel  wherewith  Jesus  sought  to  make  man  free  !  But 
ye  have  imported  into  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church  all 
of  the  tyrannies,  injustices,  class-distinctions,  and  wrongs 
which  constitute  mammon- worship  and  the  sorrow  of  the 
world  ;  and  there  is  no  difference  between  your  system 
and  the  old  religions  except  that  ye  have  substituted  the 
name  of  Christ  for  that  of  Jupiter  and  Mars  in  juggling 
with  the  rights  of  man." 


288  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

And  when  Eusebius  endeavored  to  arouse  in  the  stern 
old  man  some  considerations  of  personal  prudence,  by  in 
timating  the  probability  that  Constantine  might  some  day 
rule  the  East  also,  the  lone  and  immovable  man  sternly 
answered  : 

"  Yea,  he  will  obtain  the  East !  For  he  alone  of  all 
men  hath  never  failed  in  diplomacy  ;  hath  never  aban 
doned  a  purpose  ;  hath  never  lost  a  battle,  and  never 
will !  He  hath  sold  his  soul  for  earthly  glory,  and  Satan 
will  pay  to  him  his  price." 

But  although  Eusebius  loved  to  commune  with  the 
stern  old  man,  whose  stainless  integrity  of  character  he 
could  love  and  honor,  but  scarcely  imitate,  he  never  for 
got  the  object  of  his  journey  to  Alexandria,  and  was 
constantly  on  the  lookout  for  some  one  to  whom  he  could 
assign  the  task  of  aiding  the  ancient  Alexander  in  his 
controversy  with  the  great  and  fearless  presbyter.  At 
last  he  fell  in  with  a  youth  who  was  an  archdeacon  in 
the  bishop's  church,  and  who,  although  very  young,  was 
possessed  of  such  remarkable  genius  and  learning,  and  of 
such  pre-eminent  personal  advantages,  as  at  once  to  at 
tract  and  astonish  him,  and  seemed  to  render  him  the 
fittest  person  to  engage.  He  sedulously  cultivated  the 
young  man's  friendship,  and  admired  him  more  and  more 
as  he  learned  more  of  his  character  and  abilities.  Finally, 
he  cordially  invited  the  youth  to  make  with  him  a  visit 
to  Constantine,  and  having  with  much  difficulty  obtained 
the  consent  of  the  aged  Alexander,  who  loved  the  bright 
and  accomplished  youth  with  exceeding  tenderness,  they 
twain  departed  for  Milan.  When  the  long  and  tedious 


A  BORN   ECCLESIASTIC.  289 

journey  had  been  safely  accomplished,  Eusebius  promptly 
waited  upon  the  emperor,  who  received  him  with  fraternal 
cordiality. 

"Ah,  thou  vagabond  friend,"  he  cried,  "  thou  run 
away  bishop,  whom  I  had  almost  given  up  for  lost,  give 
some  good  account  of  thyself,  or  thou  shalt  never  again 
have  leave  of  absence,  even  for  a  day." 

"  I  have  indeed  delayed  my  return  beyond  all  ex 
pectation,"  said  the  bishop;  "but  I  suppose  that  my 
brother  of  Nicomedia  hath  imparted  all  needful  informa 
tion  of  thy  lost  shepherd  up  to  the  time  at  which  I  set 
out  for  Alexandria." 

"  Yea,  verily,"  answered  Constantine.  "  And  his  nar 
rative  was  most  perspicuous  and  entertaining,  and  elo 
quent  enough  to  draw  my  veteran  legions  from  the  re 
motest  quarters  of  the  empire  ;  and  even  now  they  are 
slowly  but  steadily  concentrating  eastwardly,  and  they 
have  a  certain  Oriental  bearing  in  their  movements  which 
would  please  thee  mightily  if  only  thou  wert  soldier 
enough  to  perceive  it." 

Both  of  the  great  men  indulged  in  a  laugh  at  this 
pleasant  sally  of  the  emperor,  who  continued :  "  Ah  !  my 
beloved  bishop,  it  was  indeed  most  delicate  and  superb 
work  !  Thou  must  henceforth  insert  into  all  the  copies 
of  the  Apocrypha  'The  Prophecy  of  Gaius  of  Chalcis,' 
but  not  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Emperor  Licinius, 
else  he  would  decapitate  mankind  to  reach  thy  single 
head!" 

And  again  the  emperor  laughed  like  a  boy,  and  the 
bishop  joined  in  his  merriment. 


290  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"  How  hast  thou  fared  in  Egypt,  bishop  ?  And  what 
good  tidings  hast  thou  brought  me  thence  ? " 

"  I  have  explored  the  position  of  the  controversy  be 
tween  the  Bishop  Alexander  and  Arius  as  thoroughly  as 
possible.  I  find  that  Alexander,  who  begins  greatly  to 
feel  his  advanced  years,  is  no  match  for  the  learned, 
eloquent,  and  powerful  presbyter,  and  that  unless  he  re 
ceive  active,  intelligent  support,  the  controversy  in  Egypt 
and  Syria  will  ultimately  die  out  for  want  of  opposition 
to  Arius.  The  aged  bishop  hath  been  raised  too  much 
under  the  influence  of  the  mighty  causes  which  molded 
the  character  of  Arius  himself,  to  be  a  fit  antagonist  for 
him  ;  and  younger  blood,  warm  with  the  new  age  of  Con- 
stantine  rather  than  with  that  of  primitive  Christian 
ity,  is  imperatively  required.  Thine  agents  at  Alexandria 
have  been  zealous  and  faithful,  but  a  remarkable  man  is 
needed  at  that  place ;  less  than  genius  will  accomplish 
nothing. " 

"Such  men  are  rare  enough,"  responded  the  em 
peror;  "but  surely  thou  must  have  discovered  at  least 
one." 

"I  was  much  troubled  to  find  a  fit  agent  for  such  a 
work,  and  finally  would  not  decide  to  fix  upon  the  man 
of  mine  own  choice  without  first  having  given  thee  an 
opportunity  to  see  and  determine  for  thyself ;  and,  there 
fore,  I  brought  him  hither  with  me." 

"Who  is  the  man?" 

"He  is  a  youth,  but  little  more  than  twenty  years 
of  age,  but,  like  many  of  the  nameless  orphans  whom  the 
Church  hath  raised,  he  is  very  thoroughly  educated,  es- 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  291 

pecially  in  the  Scriptures.  He  hath  natural  genius  for 
the  ministry  and  for  politics.  When  he  was  a  child, 
the  Bishop  Alexander  saw  him  one  day  baptizing  other 
children  in  the  bay  in  sport ;  but  the  old  bishop  was  so 
charmed  with  the  solemn  grace  and  dignity  with  which 
the  child  performed  the  sacred  rite,  that  he  declared  the 
ceremony  valid  and  took  the  children  into  his  own  church, 
and  hath  raised  and  educated  this  boy  with  loving  care 
and  patience.  He  is  now  an  archdeacon  of  the  bishop's 
congregation.  Thou  must  not  despise  his  youth,  for  in 
Alexandria,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  intellectual  city 
of  the  world,  it  is  commonly  believed  that  this  youth  is 
the  most  eloquent,  the  most  intelligent,  and  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  sons  of  men.  But  I  would  have  thee 
judge  for  thyself.  If  he  please  thee,  I  advise  that  thou 
keep  with  thee  the  most  wise  and  learned  Hosius,  and 
through  him  instruct  the  young  archdeacon  thoroughly. 
I  decline  to  meddle  any  further  in  the  business,  for  I 
am  both  the  friend  of  Arius  and  a  stout  believer  in  his 
doctrine,  and  when  the  time  comes  will  be  upon  his 
side." 

"What  is  the  name  of  this  youthful  paragon,"  said 
Constantine,  "who  hath  so  mightily  bewitched  thee?" 

"  At  Alexandria  they  commonly  call  him  the  Christian 
Apollo ;  but  his  name  is  Athanasius." 

"  Wilt  thou  bring  him  unto  me  ? " 

The  bishop  quietly  withdrew,  and  soon  returned  and 
introduced  to  the  emperor  a  youth  as  perfect  as  an  art 
ist's  dream  of  beauty.  He  was  one  of  the  most  perfect 
specimens  of  Egyptian  manhood.  Small  of  stature,  seem- 


292  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ing  to  one  of  the  emperor's  magnificent  proportions  to 
be  almost  a  dwarf,  the  expression  of  his  face  was  of  an 
gelic  beauty.  There  was  a  hardly  perceptible  stoop  in  his 
figure  which  gave  him  an  appearance  of  native  humility ; 
a  hooked  nose,  clearly  chiseled  ;  a  small,  rosy  mouth  ; 
a  short,  silky  beard  spreading  away  into  luxuriant  whisk 
ers;  light,  soft  auburn  hair;  large,  bright,  serene  eyes  of 
womanly  tenderness  and  purity ;  and  limbs  and  features 
delicately  but  exquisitely  fashioned — all  combined  to  con 
fer  an  irresistible  charm  upon  his  person  and  manners. 
Eusebius  at  once  withdrew,  leaving  Constantine  alone 
with  the  bright  and  beautiful  boy.  The  splendid  youth, 
with  a  movement  free  alike  from  shame  and  from  audaci 
ty,  but  full  of  matchless  ease  and  grace,  darted  forward, 
sank  lightly  down  upon  one  knee,  grasped  one  of  the 
emperor's  hands  and  kissed  it — an  act  of  homage  never 
exacted,  and  seldom  looked  for,  from  any  Christian — and 
lifting  his  soft,  luminous  eyes  toward  the  emperor's  face, 
said  in  tones  as  liquid  and  mellow  as  perfect  flute-notes  : 
"  I  thank  thee,  Augustus,  that  thy  kindness  satisfieth 
one  great  longing  of  my  heart ;  for  I  have  desired  above 
all  things  to  look  upon  thy  face." 

The  emperor  was  charmed  with  the  youth's  exquisite 
manner  and  wonderful  beauty,  and  gently  raising  him 
replied  :  "I  give  thee  back  thy  thanks,  lad,  for  surely 
thou  art  far  better  worth  the  seeing  than  am  I.  But 
why  didst  thou  kneel  to  me  ?  Most  Christians  make  it  a 
matter  of  conscience  to  kneel  to  none  but  God  only,  and 
I  have  respected  their  scruples." 

"I  crave  pardon  if  mine  obeisance  hath  been  offen- 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  293 

sive  unto  thee,"  the  mellifluous  voice  replied;  "for  I 
did  but  offer  to  thee  the  homage  which  my  heart  hath 
taught  me  to  be  due  from  raw  but  hopeful  youth  to 
mature  and  glorious  manhood ;  from  one  of  the  very 
humblest  of  the  people  unto  the  wisest  and  greatest  ruler 
of  mankind  ;  from  a  young  but  sincere  and  earnest  Chris 
tian  to  the  magnificent  protector  of  the  Church  ! " 

Constantine  laid  his  hand  caressingly  upon  the  young 
man's  glorious  head,  and,  laughing  lightly,  answered : 
"  If  thy  tongue  so  drippeth  honey,  lad,  the  bees  will 
settle  in  thy  mouth  and  some  time,  may  be,  sting  thee. 
Art  thou  so  pleasant  to  all  sorts  of  men  ?" 

"  Why  not  ? "  responded  the  melodious  voice.  "  I 
could  love  all  that  are  good,  pity  all  that  are  evil,  for 
give  their  injuries,  despise  their  hate,  and  die,  I  think, 
to  do  them  service  if  that  could  benefit  mankind." 

"Boy,"  said  Constantine,  gravely  but  pleasantly,  "thou 
hast  uttered  the  profoundest  secret  of  all  true  statesman 
ship  !  Who  taught  thee  that  ?" 

"I  think  my  teacher  hath  been  Jesus  Christ.  But  I 
knew  not  that  this  sentiment  was  statesmanship,  for  I 
have  learned  it  as  religion." 

"Only  a  few  of  the  most  gifted  of  mankind,"  replied 
Constantine,  "  have  been  wise  enough  to  perceive  that  true 
religion  and  true  statesmanship  are  twins  that  can  never 
be  torn  apart  without  fatal  injuries  to  both  of  them." 

"And,  therefore,"  said  Athanasius,  "it  follows  that 
the  wisest  emperor  must  also  be  the  best ;  and  hence  the 
people  of  the  Western  Empire  should  count  themselves 
the  most  fortunate  of  mankind." 


294  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"If  thou  dost  so  believe  concerning  the  Empire  of 
the  West,"  said  Constantino,  "perhaps  thou  wouldst  not 
decline  to  enter  the  service  of  its  emperor  in  thine  own 
country.  Art  thou  bound  by  ties  of  love  or  of  allegi 
ance  to  the  great  Emperor  Licinius  ? " 

"  Nay,"  replied  Athanasius,  "  I  am  bound  by  no 
human  allegiance  other  than  to  obey  all  laws  in  force 
in  the  government  under  which  I  live  that  conflict  not 
with  conscience.  Nor  have  I  been  taught  to  regard  one 
earthly  sovereign  as  better  than  another,  except  as  the 
policy  of  the  human  ruler  may  affect  the  Church  favor 
ably  or  unfavorably.  Nor  could  any  temporal  advantages 
induce  me  to  abandon  the  ministry  of  the  Church  in 
which  I  hold  the  humble  place  of  an  archdeacon,  for  I 
would  choose  even  a  menial  service  in  the  temple  of  God 
rather  than  the  most  exalted  position  outside  of  it." 

"Then,"  said  Constantine,  briefly,  "thou  dost  decline 
to  enter  into  my  service  ? " 

"  Nay,"  answered  Athanasius.  "  Thou  hast  thyself  de 
clared  that  true  religion  and  true  statesmanship  coincide 
throughout ;  and  I  have  been  taught  to  regard  thee  as 
both  the  greatest  ruler  of  mankind  and  as  the  strong,  un 
wavering  defender  of  the  faith  ;  so  that  in  place  of  declin 
ing  any  services  thou  mayst  require  at  my  hands,  I  am 
ready  to  give  my  life  for  thee  ;  only  I  can  not  abandon  the 
ministry,  to  which  conscience,  inclination,  and  training 
have  consecrated  me  ;  and  verily  a  Christian  emperor 
hath  need  of  faithful  ministers  as  much  as  of  faithful 
generals." 

The  eyes  of  Constantine  sparkled  with  pleasure  as  he 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  295 

answered  :  "  Thou  meanest,  then,  that  thou  wouldst 
labor  as  zealously  for  the  glory  of  mine  empire  within 
the  pale  of  the  Church  as  my  civil  officers  do  in  the 
affairs  of  government,  or  as  my  generals  do  in  the  mili 
tary  campaigns  ?  " 

"  Yea,  verily  ! "  said  Athanasius  ;  "  and  if  it  were  not 
presumptuous  in  a  boy  to  express  an  opinion  in  the 
presence  of  one  so  wise  and  great,  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  declare  that  the  victories  which  thou  shalt  gain  in 
aiding  the  Church  shall  be  less  costly,  less  bloody,  and 
more  permanent,  than  any  which  thine  invincible  arms 
can  ever  gain  by  the  sword  ;  for  thou  shalt  win  not  only 
provinces,  but  hearts  ! " 

"Boy,"  cried  Constantino,  "thy  cunning  speech  un- 
veileth  the  secret  dream  of  every  ruler  that  nature  hath 
fitted  for  dominion.  For  he  that  swayeth  the  scepter  of 
empire  only  to  acquire  larger  means  for  the  gratification 
of  his  own  lust  for  wealth,  ostentation,  luxury,  and  pride, 
is  but  a  tyrant,  however  wise  and  strong  he  may  be. 
The  born  ruler  lives  for  his  people,  and,  as  thou  hast 
said,  can  not  satisfy  his  grand  ambition  unless  he  shall 
conquer  hearts  as  well  as  provinces." 

"  Thy  thought  is  worthy  of  thy  greatness,"  replied 
Athanasius,  "and  showeth  me  that  the  welfare  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  emperor  must  be  identical  in  every 
true  and  proper  government,  so  that  priest  and  soldier 
both  may  labor  for  its  glory." 

"Wilt  thou  define,  as  thou  dost  understand  it,  a  true 
and  proper  government  ? " 

"A  true  and    proper  government,   as  I  conceive  it 


296  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

to  be,  is  the  just  and  wise  administration  of  all  civil, 
military,  and  ecclesiastical  authority  by  one  supreme 
ruler." 

The  splendid  face  of  Constantine  grew  bright  with 
pleasure  as  he  heard  this  concise  and  luminous  reply  ; 
but  desiring  still  further  to  draw  out  the  young  man's 
views,  to  which  his  use  of  the  word  "ecclesiastical* 
(entirely  new  to  the  emperor)  gave  a  particular  value, 
he  answered  as  follows  :  "And  which  dost  thou  think  to 
be  of  supreme  authority,  the  civil,  military,  or  ecclesi 
astical  power  ?  " 

"Neither  of  them  separately,"  replied  Athanasius. 
"  But  only  the  ruler,  that  standeth  in  the  place  of  God, 
should  be  supreme.  It  would  be  gross  tyranny  for  the 
military  authority  to  dominate  the  civil  administration ; 
it  would  be  gross  impertinence  for  the  ecclesiastical  au 
thority  to  direct  the  armies  of  the  empire ;  it  would 
be  confusion  for  either  of  them  to  interfere  with  the  do 
main  of  another.  Each  should  operate  in  its  appropriate 
sphere,  and  the  ruler  whom  God  hath  given  should  direct 
the  movements  of  them  all.  For  he  standeth  in  the 
place  of  God." 

"  Yet,"  muttered  Constantine  to  himself,  "  the  heretic 
Arius  saith  that  it  is  a  blasphemy  for  any  man  to  seek 
to  stand  in  that  high  place,  which  belongeth  unto  Christ 
alone  ! "  But  unto  Athanasius  he  presently  made  answer  : 
"  Thou  hast  wisdom  far  beyond  thine  age ;  but  in  regard 
to  these  things  thou  dost  not  agree  well  with  the  opin 
ions  of  the  most  wise  and  learned  presbyter,  Arius  the 
Libyan  1" 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  297 

Athanasius  remained  silent  for  some  moments,  looking 
up  into  the  face  of  the  tall  emperor,  who  was  watching 
his  beautiful  countenance  with  interest  and  curiosity,  and 
a  strange,  almost  indefinable  expression  lighted  his  spark 
ling  features.  The  red  lips  parted  and  very  slightly  curled, 
but  not  with  scorn  or  dislike.  He  had  the  very  same 
expression,  perhaps,  that  the  face  of  some  beautiful  young 
girl  might  wear  if  a  grandmother,  whom  she  loved  and 
revered,  should  begin  to  lecture  her  upon  the  observance 
of  some  propriety  which  the  world  had  outgrown  since 
the  ancient  dame  had  been  a  maiden  of  her  own  age. 
At  last  he  said  :  "  Nay,  verily.  The  presbyter  Arius 
surpasseth  all  living  men  in  personal  holiness  ;  but  his 
holiness  is  stern,  ascetic,  forbidding.  He  surpasseth  all 
men  in  learning ;  but  his  learning  laboreth  to  blight  and 
destroy  all  the  rare  flowers  of  sentiment  wherewith  art, 
science,  and  philosophy  seek  to  adorn  and  beautify  the 
faith.  He  is  the  most  earnestly  Christian  of  all  men ; 
but  his  religion  is  hard,  exacting,  exclusive,  and  refuseth 
to  blend  with  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  faith  the 
light  and  human  tenderness  that  endeareth  piety  unto 
the  hearts  of  common  men.  He  saith  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  the  only  government  that  our  Lord  estab 
lished  upon  earth ;  that  the  Christian  hath  need  of  no 
other ;  and  that  to  own  allegiance  to  an  earthly  sover 
eign,  or  blend  his  laws  with  our  religion,  is  to  betray 
the  Christ.  He  belongeth  to  a  past  age  and  to  a  van 
ishing  system,  and  while  he  is  one  of  the  ablest,  purest, 
most  admirable  Christians  in  the  world,  he  is  not,  and 
never  will  be,  an  ecclesiastic.  He  hath  been  reared  up 


298  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

in  an  age  of  miracles  and  martyrdoms,  and  can  not  com 
prehend  the  world  as  it  is,  nor  the  Church  as  it  must  be 
and  is  fast  becoming." 

Constantine  regarded  the  gifted  youth  with  wonder 
and  delight,  and  listened  with  joy  and  amazement  while 
the  fresh  and  silvery  tongue  struck  out,  in  forms  of 
speech  as  clear  and  beautiful  as  the  last  coins  issued 
from  the  royal  mint,  thoughts  which  he  had  himself  long 
cherished  and  acted  upon,  but  had  never  been  able  to 
conceive  so  perspicuously  as  the  young  archdeacon  ut 
tered  them.  The  emperor  then  said,  "Thou  adoptest 
the  opinions  of  the  most  learned  and  pious  Bishop  Alex 
ander  rather  than  those  of  the  primitive,  inflexible,  and 
turbulent  presbyter,  dost  thou  not  ? " 

"  Only  to  a  limited  extent,"  answered  the  musical 
voice  of  Athanasius.  "For  our  venerable  bishop  himself 
is  ancient,  and  agreeth  in  many  things  with  the  presby 
ter.  Truly,  the  great  advantage  that  Arius  hath  over 
him  consisteth  in  the  fact  that  they  have  attended  the 
same  councils  and  witnessed  the  same  events  together, 
and  the  presbyter  doth  continually  affirm  this  thing  or 
that,  and  sayeth  unto  the  bishop  :  '  Thou,  also,  wast  then 
present ;  is  it  true,  or  not,  as  I  have  stated  it  ? '  And 
the  bishop  answereth,  'That  thing  I  deny  not,  for  it  is 
true.'  And  then,  as  the  report  of  the  thunder  followeth 
the  lightning's  flash,  the  fierce  presbyter's  conclusion 
striketh  and  overwhelmeth  him.  Thou  canst  scarcely 
understand  how  all  this  may  be,  unless  thou  hast  seen 
men  and  women  burned  at  the  stake  thyself,  and  hast 
heard  their  testimony,  sifting  through  the  flames,  that 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  299 

they  obeyed  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  rightful  King,  whence 
they  were  called  martyrs,  that  is,  witnesses;  but  both 
Alexander  and  Arius  have  beheld  such  things,  and  the 
influence  thereof  abideth  with  them  forever." 

Then  answered  Constantine  :  "  I  thank  God  this  day 
that  I  have  seen  no  such  events,  and  that  no  man  under 
mine  own  government,  or  under  that  of  my  father,  the 
most  holy  Emperor  Constantius,  hath  ever  seen  them. 
But  whence,  then,  hast  thou  learned  thy  views  of  the 
relation  that  ought  to  subsist  between  the  Church  and 
the  emperor?" 

"  Chiefly  from  mine  own  thoughts,  which  many  cir 
cumstances  have  provoked  to  activity,  especially  the  efforts 
I  have  made  to  aid  our  venerable  bishop.  Long  ago,  in 
one  of  our  social  gatherings,  when  Arius  did  press  the 
bishop  fiercely  upon  the  point  that  Christians  must  have 
naught  to  do  with  any  government  except  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  Jesus  ordained  for  them,  I  arose  and 
asked  permission  to  put  a  question,  which  being  granted, 
I  said,  'If  Tiberius  Caesar .  had  been  a  Christian,  would 
not  our  Lord  have  rejoiced  to  see  him  rule  the  world  ? ' 
And  for  some  time  the  fierce  man  was  silent." 

"And  what  answer  did  he  ever  make?"  asked  Con 
stantine. 

"  He  said  at  last :  '  And  if  the  little  foxes  that  de 
stroy  the  vines  could  have  asked  foolish  questions  in 
Greek,  would  Moses  have  pronounced  the  animals  un 
clean  ? '  And  I  said  :  '  But  the  foxes  never  speak  in 
Greek ;  it  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  nature.'  And  he 
said  to  me  :  '  Neither  can  an  emperor  be  a  Christian  ; 


300  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

it  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  Christ,  which  ordaineth 
equality,  liberty,  and  fraternity  for  all  believers.'  And 
those  of  his  party  thought  the  answer  to  be  sufficient. 
But,  notwithstanding,  I  did  follow  the  leading  of  mine 
own  thoughts,  and  many  things  grew  out  of  it." 

"Let  not  thy  thoughts  change  their  course,"  replied 
Constantine ;  "  for  thou  art  altogether  right.  Thou 
shalt  be  my  friend  :  remember  that  thou  art  young,  and 
that  the  pious  Alexander  groweth  very  old  ;  so  that,  in 
the  course  of  nature,  thou  mayst  live  to  see  the  episco 
pal  throne  at  Alexandria  vacant ;  or  if  they  have  no 
throne  there  yet,  one  shall  some  day  be  established.  But 
thou  hast  charmed  me  into  the  neglect  of  other  duties. 
Go,  now,  and  come  again  on  to-morrow  at  the  same 
hour." 

Then  the  beautiful  boy  again  glided  forward,  lightly 
kneeled  and  kissed  the  emperor's  hand,  and  smilingly 
withdrew. 

And  for  many  months  afterward  Constantine  kept  the 
young  man  Athanasius  with  .him,  and  also  Hosius,  the 
venerable  and  learned  Bishop  of  Cordova ;  and  daily 
the  youth  passed  some  hours  in  conversation  with  the 
emperor  or  with  the  bishop,  or  with  both  of  them  to 
gether  ;  so  that  when  he  returned  to  Alexandria  his  bright 
and  wonderful  intelligence  was  enlarged  and  enlightened 
by  the  foremost  thoughts  concerning  things  both  royal 
and  ecclesiastical  that  any  men  of  that  age  could  teach 
him.  And  the  youth  bore  with  him  a  most  kind  and 
affectionate  letter  written  to  the  ancient  Bishop  Alexan 
der  by  Constantine's  own  hand,  and  also  a  beautiful 


A   J5UKN    ECCLESIASTIC.  301 

communion  service  of  silver  for  his  church.  And  Atha- 
nasius  said  unto  Constantine  almost  at  the  moment  of 
his  departure,  "Shall  I  deliver  unto  Arius  for  thee  any 
message  ?" 

And  Constantine  laughingly  answered  :  "  If  the  pres 
byter  inquire  of  thee,  thou  mayst  inform  him  that  the 
emperor  said  of  him,  'There  are  no  birds  in  last  year's 
nests.' " 

But  Arius  the  presbyter  never  asked  Athanasius  any 
thing  about  the  emperor.  Even  when  the  stern  old  man 
was  told  that  Athanasius  had  been  to  Milan,  and  had  for 
months  abode  in  the  emperor's  palace,  he  only  said  :  "The 
stature  and  Roman  strength  which  enableth  Constantine 
to  cope  with  German,  Briton,  and  Gaul,  is  fitly  joined 
to  the  subtilty,  beauty,  and  intelligence  by  which  Atha 
nasius  typifieth  the  countless  centuries  of  Egyptian  civ 
ilization  ;  and  the  two,  like  Herod  and  Caiaphas,  combine 
against  our  Lord." 

From  the  date  of  the  return  of  Athanasius,  men  per 
ceived  that  the  Bishop  Alexander  became  more  open  and 
explicit  in  his  definitions  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  more 
pointed  in  his  opposition  to  the  teachings  of  Arius,  more 
eloquent  in  his  praises  of  any  pious  emperor  whom  God 
might  raise  up  to  free  the  Christians  of  the  East  and 
identify  his  government  with  the  Church.  And  Arius, 
having  publicly  taught  that  the  unity  of  the  Godhead 
consisted  in  the  divine  nature  of  Father,  Spirit,  and 
Son,  and  not  in  any  blasphemous  and  impossible  con 
ception  of  the  identity  of  them,  or  of  their  union  in 
one  person,  just  as  the  human  family  consisteth  of 

20 


302  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

father,  mother,  and  son ;  and  having  gone  so  far  as  to 
write  in  a  little  metrical  book  of  doctrine  that  "  God 
was,  when  Christ  was  not";  that  "God  was  not  always 
Father";  and  that  the  words  "Father"  and  "Son," 
"begotten"  and  "conceived,"  necessarily  implied  the 
"priority"  of  him  that  begat,  and  of  her  that  conceived 
— was  by  the  Bishop  Alexander  ordered  to  suspend  the 
exercises  of  his  functions  as  presbyter  of  the  Baucalis 
church.  And,  thereupon,  the  Libyan  called  his  congre 
gation  together  and  said  unto  them  :  "  Brethren,  Alex 
ander  the  bishop  hath  issued  an  order  to  suspend  me 
from  the  performance  of  my  duties  as  presbyter  because 
I  do  not  believe,  and  have  refused  to  teach,  his  impos 
sible,  novel,  Western,  unscriptural  philosophy  concerning 
that  which  he  calleth  'the  Holy  Trinity,'  a  phrase  not 
found  in  Scripture.  Ye  know  that  the  title  to  the 
Baucalis  church  was  placed  by  the  martyr  Theckla,  who 
caused  it  to  be  erected,  in  certain  trustees  of  the  common 
Church,  not  in  the  bishop,  for  in  those  days  the  bishops 
owned  nothing.  Ye  know  that  the  original  members  of 
this  community  (many  of  whom  still  live)  called  me  to 
be  the  presbyter,  and  that  I  have  discharged  the  duties  of 
that  place  as  faithfully  as  I  was  able  to  do  by  the  space 
of  nearly  thirty  years.  None  but  the  trustees  have  author 
ity  or  right  to  close  the  church  against  me  or  my  com 
munity  ;  and  I  am  well  advised  by  diligent  searching  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  by  the  Christian  practices  of  three 
centuries,  that  no  bishop  hath  any  authority  to  suspend 
a  presbyter,  and  that  the  order  made  by  Brother  Alex 
ander  in  that  behalf  is  puerile  and  void.  I  purpose, 


A  BORN  ECCLESIASTIC.  303 

therefore,  to  continue  the  usual  ministrations  of  divine 
service,  and  all  my  pastoral  work  among  you,  until  the 
Church  shall  bid  me  to  abstain  ;  and  ye  who  may  desire 
so  to  do,  can  continue  to  attend." 

The  trustees  of  the  Baucalis  church  promptly  refused 
to  close  its  doors  upon  Arius,  and  his  entire  congregation 
remained  steadfastly  devoted  to  him ;  and  Bishop  Alex 
ander  and  those  who  followed  him  denounced  the  Libyan 
as  a  "heretic,"  and  began  to  pray  for  the  coming  of 
Constantine ;  and  wherever  the  influence  of  the  Roman 
Empire  was  dominant,  the  "Arian  heresy"  was  con 
demned  ;  and  the  flame  of  controversy  grew  fiercer  and 
fiercer,  and  spread  throughout  Christendom. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

THE   ONE   GREAT  BATTLE   OF  CHRISTENDOM ! 

DURING  the  progress  of  these  affairs,  Constantino  had 
thoroughly  satisfied  himself,  by  the  reports  of  his  secret 
political  agents  in  Nicomedia  and  elsewhere,  that  the  as 
surances  which  the  Eusebii  had  given  to  him  that  Licinius 
would  not  in  any  event  move  his  fleet  away  from  the  coasts 
of  Asia  were  entirely  trustworthy.  The  overthrow  of  the 
Gothic  church,  which  had  been  founded  and  edified  by 
Ulfilas,  had  been  followed  by  a  treaty  of  peace  with  that 
splendid  people,  whereby  they  had  bound  themselves  to 
furnish,  whenever  the  service  of  the  emperor  required  it, 
forty  thousand  young  men  for  the  imperial  army;  these 
legions  had  long  ago  been  supplied,  armed,  and  thoroughly 
exercised,  and  constituted  in  themselves  a  magnificent 
army.  The  emperor  had  been  triumphant  everywhere. 
"  Confiding  in  the  superiority  of  his  genius  and  military 
power,"  saith  the  historian  Gibbon,  "  he  determined,  with 
out  any  previous  injury,  to  exert  them  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  Licinius,  whose  advanced  age  and  unpopular  vices 
seemed  to  promise  an  easy  conquest.  But  the  old  em 
peror,  awakened  by  the  approaching  danger,  deceived  the 
expectations  of  his  friends  as  well  as  enemies.  Calling 


THE  ONE   GREAT   BATTLE  OF   CHRISTENDOM!     305 

forth  that  spirit  and  those  abilities  by  which  he  had  de 
served  the  friendship  of  Galerius  and  the  imperial  purple, 
he  prepared  himself  for  the  contest,  collected  the  forces 
of  the  East,  and  soon  filled  the  plains  of  Hadrianople  with 
his  troops,  and  the  straits  of  the  Hellespont  with  his  fleet. 
The  army  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
foot  and  fifteen  thousand  horse.  The  fleet  was  composed 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  galleys  of  three  ranks  of  oars. 
.  .  .  The  troops  of  Constantine  were  ordered  to  rendezvous 
at  Thessalonica.  They  numbered  above  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  horse  and  foot.  Their  emperor  was 
satisfied  with  their  martial  appearance,  and  his  army  con 
tained  more  soldiers,  though  fewer  men,  than  that  of  his 
eastern  competitor.  The  legions  of  Constantine  were 
levied  in  the  warlike  provinces  of  Europe  ;  action  had 
confirmed  their  discipline ;  victory  had  elevated  their 
hopes,  and  there  were  among  them  a  great  number  of  vet 
erans,  who,  after  seventeen  glorious  campaigns  under  the 
same  leader,  prepared  themselves  to  deserve  honorable  dis 
missal  by  a  last  effort  of  their  valor.  But  the  naval  prep 
arations  of  Constantine  were  in  every  respect  much  in 
ferior  to  those  of  Licinius.  The  maritine  cities  of  Greece 
sent  their  respective  quotas  of  men  and  ships  to  the  cele 
brated  harbor  of  Piraeus,  and  their  united  forces  consisted 
of  no  more  than  two  hundred  small  vessels.  .  .  .  It  is 
only  surprising  that  the  Eastern  emperor,  who  possessed  so 
great  a  superiority  at  sea,  should  have  neglected  this  op 
portunity  of  carrying  an  offensive  war  into  the  center  of 
his  rival's  dominions.  Instead  of  embracing  such  an 
active  resolution,  which  might  have  changed  the  whole  face 


306  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  the  war,  the  prudent  Licinius  expected  the  approach 
of  his  rival  in  a  camp  near  Hadrianople,  which  he  fortified 
with  an  anxious  care  that  betrayed  his  apprehensions  of  the 
event.  Consfcantine  directed  his  march  from  Thessalonica 
toward  that  part  of  Thrace,  till  he  found  himself  stopped 
by  the  broad  and  rapid  stream  of  the  Hebrus,  and  discov 
ered  the  numerous  army  of  Licinius,  which  filled  the  steep 
ascent  of  the  hill,  from  the  river  to  the  city  of  Hadri 
anople.  Many  days  were  spent  in  doubtful  skirmishes ; 
but  at  length  the  obstacles  of  the  passage  and  of  the  attack 
were  removed  by  the  intrepid  conduct  of  Constantine.  .  .  . 
The  valor  and  danger  of  Constantine  are  attested  by  a 
slight  wound  which  he  received  in  the  thigh  ;  but  .  .  . 
the  victory  was  obtained  no  less  by  the  conduct  of  the  gen 
eral  than  by  the  courage  of  the  hero  ;  for  a  body  of  five 
thousand  archers  marched  round  to  occupy  a  thick  wood 
in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  whose  attention  was  distracted  by 
the  building  of  the  bridge ;  and  Licinius,  perplexed  by  so 
many  artful  evolutions,  was  reluctantly  drawn  from  his 
advantageous  post  to  combat  on  equal  terms  in  the  plain. 
The  contest  was  no  longer  equal.  His  confused  multitude 
of  new  levies  was  easily  vanquished  by  the  veterans  of  the 
West.  Thirty-four  thousand  men  are  reported  to  have 
been  slain.  The  fortified  camp  of  Licinius  was  taken  by 
assault  the  evening  of  the  battle ;  the  greater  part  of  the 
fugitives,  who  had  retired  to  the  mountains,  surrendered 
themselves  the  next  day  to  the  discretion  of  the  conqueror ; 
and  his  rival,  who  could  no  longer  keep  the  field,  con 
fined  himself  within  the  walls  of  Byzantium.  The  siege 
of  Byzantium,  which  was  immediately  undertaken  by  Con- 


THE  ONE  GREAT  BATTLE  OF  CHRISTENDOM!     307 

stantine,  was  attended  with  great  labor  and  uncertainty.  In 
the  late  civil  war,  the  fortifications  of  that  place,  so  justly 
considered  as  the  key  of  Europe  and  Asia,  had  been  re 
paired  and  strengthened  ;  and  as  long  as  Licinius  remained 
master  of  the  sea,  the  garrison  was  much  less  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  famine  than  the  army  of  the  besiegers.  The 
naval  commanders  of  Constantino  were  summoned  to  his 
camp,  and  received  his  positive  orders  to  force  the  passage 
of  the  Hellespont,  as  the  fleet  of  Licinius,  instead  of  seek 
ing  and  destroying  their  feeble  enemy,  continued  inactive 
in  those  narrow  straits,  where  its  superiority  of  numbers 
was  of  little  use  or  advantage.  Crispus,  the  emperor's 
eldest  son,  was  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  this  daring 
enterprise,  which  he  performed  with  so  much  courage  and 
success  that  he  deserved  the  esteem,  and  most  probably 
excited  the  jealousy,  of  his  father.  The  engagement 
lasted  two  days  ;  and  in  the  evening  of  the  first,  the  con 
tending  fleets,  after  considerable  mutual  loss,  retired  to 
their  respective  harbors  in  Europe  and  Asia.  The  second 
day,  about  noon,  a  strong  south  wind  sprang  up,  which 
carried  the  vessels  of  Crispus  against  the  enemy,  and  as 
this  casual  opportunity  was  improved  by  his  skillful  in 
trepidity,  he  soon  obtained  a  complete  victory.  For  the 
current  always  sets  out  of  the  Hellespont,  and,  when  it  is 
assisted  by  a  north  wind,  no  vessel  can  attempt  the  pas 
sage,  but  a  south  wind  renders  the  force  thereof  almost 
imperceptible.  One  hundred  and  thirty  vessels  were  de 
stroyed,  five  thousand  men  were  slain,  and  Amandus,  the 
admiral  of  the  fleet,  escaped  with  the  utmost  difficulty  to 
the  shores  of  Chalcedon.  As  soon  as  the  Hellespont  was 


308  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

open,  a  plentiful  convoy  of  provisions  flowed  into  the 
camp  of  Constantine,  who  had  already  advanced  the  opera 
tions  of  the  siege.  He  constructed  artificial  mounds  of 
earth  of  equal  height  with  the  ramparts  of  Byzantium. 
The  lofty  towers  which  were  erected  on  that  foundation 
galled  the  besieged  with  large  stones  and  darts  from  the 
military  engines,  and  the  battering-rams  had  shaken  the 
walls  in  several  places.  If  Licinius  persisted  much  longer 
in  the  defense,  he  exposed  himself  to  be  involved  in  the 
ruin  of  the  place.  Before  he  was  surrounded,  he  pru 
dently  removed  his  person  and  his  treasures  to  Chalcedon, 
in  Asia.  .  .  .  Such  were  the  resources  and  such  the  abili 
ties  of  Licinius,  that,  after  so  many  successive  defeats,  he 
collected  in  Bithynia  a  new  army  of  fifty  or  sixty  thousand 
men,  while  the  activity  of  Constantine  was  employed  in 
the  siege  of  Byzantium.  The  vigilant  emperor  did  not, 
however,  neglect  the  last  struggles  of  his  antagonist.  A 
considerable  part  of  his  victorious  army  was  transported 
over  the  Bosporus  in  small  vessels,  and  the  decisive  en 
gagement  was  fought  soon  after  their  landing  on  the 
heights  of  Chrysopolis,  now  called  Scutari.  The  troops 
of  Licinius,  though  they  were  lately  raised,  ill  armed,  and 
worse  disciplined,  made  head  against  the  conquerors  with 
fruitless  but  desperate  valor,  till  a  total  defeat,  and  a 
slaughter  of  five-and-twenty  thousand  men,  irretrievably 
determined  the  fate  of  their  leader.  He  retired  to  Nico- 
media,  rather  with  the  view  of  gaining  some  time  for  ne 
gotiation,  than  with  the  hope  of  any  effectual  defense. 
Constantia,  his  wife,  the  sister  of  Constantine,  interceded 
with  her  brother  in  favor  of  her  husband,  and  obtained 


THE   ONE   GREAT   BATTLE   OF  CHRISTENDOM!     309 

from  his  policy,  rather  than  from  his  compassion,  a  solemn 
promise,  confirmed  by  an  oath,  that,  after  the  resignation 
of  the  purple,  Licinius  should  be  permitted  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  peace  and  affluence.  .  .  .  By  this 
victory  of  Constantine  the  Koman  world  was  again  united 
under  one  emperor,  thirty-seven  years  after  Diocletian  had 
divided  his  power  and  provinces  with  his  associate  Max- 
imian.  .  .  .  The  foundation  of  Constantinople,  and  the 
legal  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion,  were  the  im 
mediate  and  memorable  consequences  of  this  revolution." 

If  the  victory  had  been  otherwise,  the  face  of  history 
might  have  been  entirely  changed  :  the  Christian  com 
munities  might  have  been  permitted  to  maintain  their 
original  communal  organization,  at  least  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  Christ  might  still  have  had  a  kingdom 
upon  earth.  If  Licinius  had  employed  his  naval  supe 
riority  in  offensive  war,  instead  of  keeping  it  cooped  up 
under  the  shores  of  Asia,  "  in  those  narrow  straits  where 
its  superiority  of  numbers  was  of  little  use  or  advan 
tage,"  the  probabilities  are  that  he  might  have  main 
tained  his  power  at  least  in  the  East  ;  but  the  Eusebii 
had  "  neutralized "  the  mighty  fleet  by  that  which  Con 
stantine  denominated  "the  prophecy  of  Gaius  of  Chal- 
cis,"  and  Christianity  was  subverted  everywhere,  and  the 
"legal  establishment"  of  Constantine  usurped  its  place. 

Almost  immediately  Constantine  proceeded  to  mark 
out  the  boundaries  of  the  city — Constantinople — which 
prescient  John  had  seen  from  rocky  Patmos ;  and  he 
traced  the  boundaries  thereof,  going  on  foot  with  a  spear 
in  his  hand,  and  declared  that  in  so  doing  he  was  act- 


310  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

ing  in  obedience  to  the  directions  of  God ;  and  when 
those  who  were  with  him  remonstrated  against  his  tracing 
so  vast  a  space  for  a  city,  the  emperor  replied  :  "I 
shall  advance  till  He,  the  invisible  guide  who  marches 
before  me,  thinks  proper  to  stop."  And  so  he  laid  off 
the  boundaries  of  the  city  upon  seven  great  hills,  which 
included  the  ancient  site  of  Byzantium,  and  soon  began 
to  lay  the  foundations,  and  to  plan  and  to  build  the  pal 
aces,  theatres,  circus,  amphitheatre,  and  churches  of  Con 
stantinople. 

About  the  same  time  the  emperor  became  greatly 
interested  in  the  preparation  of  new  copies  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  and  especially  of  the  epistles  of  John ;  and  he 
had  learned  clerks  and  skillful  writers  constantly  em 
ployed  in  making  copies  in  the  new,  running  Greek 
text,  which  was  lately  come  into  use,  and  was  more  easy 
and  beautiful  than  the  uncial  letters  of  an  earlier  age ; 
and  he  distributed  them  to  the  bishops  throughout  the 
Roman  Empire.  And  next  he  sent  letters  to  all  of 
the  bishops,  requesting  them  to  meet  in  a  solemn  coun 
cil  of  the  whole  Christian  Church,  at  the  city  of  Nicea, 
upon  a  designated  day,  in  order  to  discuss  and  settle  the 
disputed  questions  by  which  the  world  was  agitated. 
And  in  conformity  with  this  royal  request,  or  order,  in 
the  year  325  was  assembled  the  most  remarkable  body 
of  men  that  the  exigencies  of  political  or  religious  life 
hath  ever  convened  together  in  the  history  of  the  world ; 
for  it  was  the  first  oecumenical  council  ever  called  in 
Christendom,  those  which  had  preceded  it  having  been 
assembled  by  the  Christian  bishops,  of  their  own  accord, 


THE  ONE  GREAT  BATTLE  OF  CHRISTENDOM!     311 

and  not  by  the  authority  of  a  prince  or  emperor,  whose 
power  was  said  to  rule  the  habitable  earth  (Okov/it'vTj). 

The  letter  which  Constantine  addressed  to  the  bishops 
was  as  follows  :  "  That  there  is  nothing  more  honorable 
in  my  sight  than  religion  is,  1  believe,  manifest  to  every 
man.  Now,  because  the  Synod  of  Bishops  at  Ancyra, 
of  Galatia,  consented  formerly  that  it  should  be  so,  it 
hath  now  seemed  unto  us,  on  many  accounts,  that  it 
would  be  well  for  it  to  be  assembled  at  Nice,  a  city  of 
Bithynia ;  because  the  bishops  of  Italy,  and  of  the  rest 
of  the  countries  of  Europe,  are  coming,  and  because  of 
the  excellent  temperature  of  the  air,  and  because  I  shall 
be  at  hand  as  a  spectator  and  participator  of  what  is 
done.  Wherefore  I  signify  to  you,  my  beloved  brethren, 
that  ye,  all  of  you,  promptly  assemble  at  the  city  I 
spoke  of,  that  is  Nice.  Let  every  one  of  you,  there 
fore,  diligently  inquire  into  that  which  is  profitable,  in 
order  that,  as  I  before  said,  without  any  delay,  we  may 
speedily  come  to  be  a  present  spectator  of  those  things 
which  are  done  by  the  same.  God  keep  you,  my  be 
loved  brethren ! " 

The  reasons  assigned  by  the  emperor  for  calling  the 
Council  of  Nicea  were  first  and  chiefly  that  "the  Synod 
of  Ancyra"  (which  had  been  called  by  the  bishops  with 
out  the  interference  of  any  secular  authority)  "had 
formerly  consented "  to  meet  in  a  general  council  at 
Nice,  and  that  "the  bishops  of  Italy  and  of  Europe 
would  be  there,"  and  that  "the  air  of  the  place  was  of 
an  excellent  temperature,"  and  that  their  coming  into 
Bithynia  would  afford  the  emperor  an  opportunity  to  be 


312  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

"a  spectator  of  their  proceedings."  There  was  no  in 
timation  given  that  the  emperor  desired  to  preside  over 
their  council,  or  to  control  its  action,  or  to  force  its 
deliberations  to  assume  any  political  significance  what 
ever,  or  to  compel  it  to  take  such  action  as  must  inev 
itably  result  in  the  subversion  of  the  Christian  polity 
and  the  establishment  of  an  entirely  different  church 
system.  The  letter  was  based  first  upon  the  consent 
given  by  the  Council  of  Ancyra  and  then  upon  matters 
of  expediency,  and  in  no  respect  did  it  question  the 
absolute  right  of  the  bishops  to  meet  where  they  might 
please,  and  to  deliberate  without  the  intermeddling  of 
secular  authority.  So,  at  least,  it  seemed  to  all  the 
bishops  of  the  Eastern  Church,  except  a  small  number 
who  had  been,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  leavened  by 
the  leaven  of  ecclesiasticism.  On  the  face  of  it  the  letter 
was  as  full  a  recognition  of  the  freedom  of  the  bishops, 
and  as  full  a  recognition  of  the  Christian  polity  which 
had  for  three  centuries  held  all  property  in  common,  as 
was  the  celebrated  Edict  of  Milan,  in  which  Constantino 
and  Licinius  had  united  in  commanding  the  officers  of 
the  Roman  world  to  restore  the  property  of  Christians 
as  communal  property,  the  language  of  that  edict  being 
as  follows:  "All  of  which  will  be  necessary  to  be  de 
livered  up  to  the  body  of  the  Christians  without  delay. 
And  since  the  Christians  themselves  are  known  to  have 
had  not  only  those  places  where  they  were  accustomed 
to  meet,  but  other  places  also,  belonging  not  to  individ 
uals  among  them,  but  to  the  right  of  the  whole  body  of 
Christians,  you  will  also  command  all  these,  by  virtue 


THE   ONE  GREAT  BATTLE   OF  CHRISTENDOM!     313 

of  the  law  before  mentioned,  without  any  hesitation,  to 
be  restored  to  the  same  Christians,  that  is  to  their  body, 
and  to  each  conventicle  separately." 

But  already  the  bishops  of  the  Western  Empire,  with 
Hosius  and  Eusebius  at  their  head,  had  come  to  under 
stand  that  while  Constantino  cared  little  about  any 
matter  of  faith,  he  had  determined  to  utterly  destroy 
the  Christian  polity,  especially  in  regard  to  communism 
and  the  refusal  of  Christians  to  bear  arms.  The  regula 
tions  by  which  their  journeys  were  governed  prescribed 
that  they  should  come  at  the  emperor's  expense,  and 
that  "each  bishop  should  be  accompanied  by  a  retinue 
of  two  presbyters  and  three  slaves." 

At  and  near  the  appointed  time  there  were  bishops 
and  presbyters  assembled  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world — from  Persia  and  from  Gaul,  from  Scythia  and 
from  Africa.  There  were  many  who  were  the  victims 
of  pagan  persecutions,  and  still  bore  in  their  own  per 
sons  the  marks  of  the  tortures  to  which  they  had  been 
subjected.  This  one  had  lost  an  eye,  gouged  out  by  the 
torturer's  sword  or  pincers ;  that  one  had  the  sinews  of 
his  leg  seared  with  hot  iron  to  keep  him  from  escaping 
from  the  mines,  to  which  he  had  been  condemned  for 
the  crime  of  being  a  Christian  ;  and  the  other  had  had 
the  flesh  scraped  off  his  ribs  by  the  instruments  of  tor 
ture.  Of  the  whole  number  present,  it  was  believed  that 
only  the  eleven  who  came  from  the  remotest  East  had  es 
caped  mutilation  in  some  ghastly  form. 

Arius,  although  not  a  bishop,  was  there  by  the  ex 
press  order  of  Constantine,  who  could  always  sleep  upon 


314  ARIU8   THE  LIBYAN. 

his  vengeance,  but  never  could  forget  nor  forego  it. 
The  place  of  the  assembly's  sessions  was  a  great  hall  in 
the  imperial  palace  of  Nicea.  The  bishops  and  presby 
ters,  assembled  upon  the  emperor's  order,  traveling  at 
his  expense,  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Nicomedia, 
then  the  imperial  residence,  into  a  royal  palace,  and  fed 
by  his  bounty,  were  from  the  very  first  the  creatures  of 
Constantine,  so  far  as  complete  control  of  the  political 
significancy  of  religion  could  make  them  so. 

The  emperor  had  only  two  great  purposes  to  accom 
plish  in  patronizing  the  Church  and  engineering  the 
council :  one  of  which  was  to  make  the  Eastern  Church 
as  willingly  and  thoroughly  dependent  upon  the  imperial 
authority  as  he  had  already  practically  made  that  of  the 
West,  and  to  render  it  as  much  a  bulwark  of  his  govern 
ment  ;  the  other  was  to  render  this  condition  of  things, 
in  appearance  at  least,  the  spontaneous  and  inspired  action 
of  a  free  conclave  of  bishops. 

As  for  the  theological  verity  of  their  doctrines  or 
practice,  the  royal  atheist  cared  not  a  denarius.  His 
object  was  to  make  the  Church  as  much  a  part  of  the 
imperial  power  as  a  legion  might  be,  its  bishops  as  much 
his  agents  and  servants  as  the  military  officers ;  and  to 
uproot  and  cast  out  the  only  essential  features  of  Chris 
tianity  which  tended  to  segregate  the  Christians  into  a 
separate  and  distinct  body  in  the  empire,  by  subvert 
ing  "the  kingdom  of  heaven"  with  its  communistic 
organization,  that  excluded  war,  slavery,  and  mammon- 
worship  from  the  communities  of  the  faithful,  so  that 
no  man  should  feel  that  because  he  was  a  Christian  he 


THE   ONE   GREAT  BATTLE   OF   CHRISTENDOM!     315 

was  therefore  more  free,  or  less  a  subject  of  the  em 
pire  !  This  he  proposed  to  do  by  inducing  the  council 
to  define  the  faith  and  prescribe  temporal  penalties  for 
heresy,  which  were  to  be  enforced  by  the  emperor's 
authority,  just  as  were  the  judgments  of  the  magistrates 
against  violators  of  the  criminal  laws  :  the  action  of  the 
council  was  to  make  an  offense  against  the  Church  a 
crime  against  the  imperial  law.  Subject  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  these  purposes,  he  really  desired  that  they 
might  reach  conclusions  as  nearly  unanimous  as  possible ; 
for  he  was  as  anxious  to  avoid  the  creating  of  parties 
and  classes  in  the  Church  as  he  was  to  avoid  sowing 
discord  among  his  other  subjects. 

Upon  the  assembling  of  the  council,  Eusebius  of  Cae- 
sarea,  "  in  metrical  prose,  if  not  in  actual  verses,  recited 
an  address  to  the  emperor,  and  then  a  hymn  of  thanks 
giving  to  the  Almighty  for  the  victory  over  Licinius." 
Thereupon  Constantine  addressed  the  council  in  the  Latin 
language,  which  his  dragoman  immediately  interpreted 
into  Greek,  as  follows  :  "  It  has,  my  friends,  been  the  ob 
ject  of  my  highest  wishes  to  enjoy  your  sacred  company, 
and,  having  obtained  this,  I  confess  my  thankfulness  to 
the  King  of  all  that,  in  addition  to  all  my  other  blessings, 
he  has  granted  to  me  this  greatest  of  all — I  mean,  to  re 
ceive  you  all  assembled  together,  and  to  see  one,  common, 
harmonious  opinion  of  all.  Let,  then,  no  envious  enemy 
injure  our  happiness,  and,  after  the  destruction  of  the 
impious  power  of  the  tyrants  by  the  might  of  God  our 
Saviour,  let  not  the  spirit  of  evil  overwhelm  the  divine 
law  with  blasphemies  :  for  to  mo  far  worse  than  any  war 


316  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

or  battle  is  the  civil  war  of  the  Church  of  God — yea,  far 
more  fearful  than  the  wars  which  have  waged  without. 
As,  then,  by  the  assent  and  co-operation  of  a  higher 
power,  I  have  gained  my  victories  over  my  enemies,  1 
thought  that  nothing  remained  but  to  give  God  thanks, 
and  to  rejoice  with  those  who  have  been  delivered  by  me. 
But  since  I  learned  of  your  divisions,  contrary  to  all  ex 
pectation,  I  gave  the  report  my  first  consideration  ;  and, 
praying  that  this  also  might  be  healed  through  my  assist 
ance,  I  called  you  all  together  without  delay.  I  rejoice 
at  the  mere  sight  of  your  assembly  :  but  the  moment  that 
I  shall  consider  the  chief  fulfillment  of  my  prayers  will  be 
when  I  see  you  all  joined  together  in  heart  and  soul, 
and  determining  on  one  peaceful  harmony  for  all,  which 
it  should  well  become  you,  who  are  consecrated  to  God,  to 
preach  to  others.  Do  not,  then,  delay,  my  friends ;  do 
not  delay,  ministers  of  God,  and  good  servants  of  our 
common  Lord  and  Saviour,  to  remove  all  grounds  of  dif 
ference,  and  to  wind  up,  by  laws  of  peace,  every  link  of 
controversy.  Thus  will  you  have  done  what  is  most  pleas 
ing  to  the  God  who  is  over  all,  and  you  will  render  the 
greatest  boon  to  me  your  fellow-servant." 

"  The  council  was  now  formally  opened,  and  the  em 
peror  gave  permission  to  the  presidents  of  the  assembly  to 
commence  their  proceedings  "  ;  and  the  Bishops  of  Alexan 
dria,  Cordova,  Antioch,  and  Caesarea,  were  chosen  to  pre 
side  over  their  deliberations  :  of  whom  Hosius,  Alexander, 
and  Eusebius,  were  politicians  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
ecclesiastical  spirit  and  purposes  of  the  emperor,  although 
the  last-named  bishop  was  the  warm  personal  friend  of 


THE  ONE  GREAT  BATTLE  OF  CHRISTENDOM!     317 

Arms,  and  a  follower  of  his  theological  tenets.  Constantino 
himself  assumed  the  functions  of  a  bishop,  and  participated 
in  all  their  debates,  "  directing  all  his  energies  to  that  one 
point  which  he  himself  described  as  his  aim — a  unanimity 
of  decision"  as  to  all  merely  theological  disputes.  For, 
even  before  the  council  had  met,  innumerable  complaints 
of  one  bishop  against  another  had  been  placed  in  his 
hands  ;  so  that  he  was  satisfied  that  one  great  design  he 
had  in  view  was  already  accomplished  :  for  this  fact 
showed  that  already  they  regarded  him  as  the  ultimate 
judge — the  real  source  of  all  authority  in  the  Church  (in 
stead  of  Christ),  as  truly  as  he  was  in  the  state.  All  of 
these  complaints,  therefore,  he  publicly  burned  in  their 
presence,  with  a  solemn  oath  that  he  had  not  read  any  of 
them,  and  he  said,  "It  is  the  command  of  Christ  that 
ho  who  desires  to  be  himself  forgiven,  must  first  forgive 
his  brother." 

But  the  very  strongest  proof  that  the  emperor  was  ly 
ing,  was  the  fact  that  he  made  oath  to  his  statement ;  and 
perhaps  there  was  not  a  thing  named  in  any  of  the  com 
plaints,  that  could  give  him  a  hold  upon  any  bishop,  that 
was  not  carefully  preserved. 

The  first  matter  which  came  before  this  august  as 
sembly  was  the  question  whether  the  Christion  passover 
("  Easter")  should  be  celebrated  on  the  same  day  with  the 
Jewish  (the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Nisan),  or  on  the 
following  Sunday.  And  the  bitter  feeling  of  many  of  the 
Christians  that  "  the  celebration  of  it  on  the  same  day 
that  was  kept  by  the  wicked  race  that  put  the  Saviour  to 
death  was  an  impious  absurdity,"  on  one  side,  and  the 
21 


318  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

reverence  on  the  other  side  for  a  custom  which  had  come 
down  from  the  apostles,  gave  rise  to  a  long  contro 
versy  on  the  subject  ;  but  it  was  finally  "  determined 
by  common  consent "  that  the  ancient  custom  should 
be  set  aside,  and  the  more  recent  Christian  practice  estab 
lished. 

During  these  proceedings,  Arius  the  Libyan  took  no 
part  whatever  in  the  discussions  or  business  of  the  coun 
cil,  but  sat  as  a  quiet  and  attentive  spectator  of  their  de 
liberations.  Many  of  them,  knowing  his  great  erudition 
and  holy  character,  consulted  him  privately,  and  he  fully 
gave  them  the  benefit  of  his  learning  and  opinions.  Arius 
was  now  sixty  years  of  age,  and  was  greatly  changed  from 
the  bright  and  happy  youth  whom  we  knew  at  Baucalis ; 
greatly  changed  even  from  the  broken-hearted  but  ever- 
diligent,  earnest,  and  eloquent  presbyter  of  the  earlier 
years  of  his  ministry  at  Alexandria.  "He  is  tall  and 
thin,  apparently  unable  to  support  his  stature  ;  he  has  an 
odd  way  of  contorting  and  twisting  himself,  which  his 
enemies  compare  to  the  wrigglings  of  a  snake.  He  would 
be  handsome,  but  for  the  emaciation  and  deadly  pallor  of 
his  face,  and  a  downcast  look  imparted  by  a  weakness  of 
eye-sight.  At  times  his  veins  throb  and  swell,  and  his 
limbs  tremble,  as  if  suffering  from  some  violent  internal 
complaint,  the  same,  perhaps,  that  will  terminate  one  day 
in  his  sudden  and  frightful  death.  There  is  a  wild  look 
about  him,  that  is  at  first  sight  startling.  His  dress  and 
demeanor  are  those  of  a  rigid  ascetic.  He  wears  a  long 
coat  with  short  sleeves,  such  as  the  monks  wore  to  indicate 
that  their  hands  were  not  made  for  injury,  and  a  scarf 


THE  ONE  GREAT  BATTLE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.    319 

of  only  half  size,  such  as  was  the  mark  of  an  austere  life  ; 
and  his  hair  hangs  in  tangled  masses  about  his  head.  He 
is  usually  silent,  but  at  times  breaks  out  into  fierce  ex 
citement,  such  as  will  give  the  impression  of  madness. 
Yet  with  all  this  there  is  a  sweetness  in  his  voice,  and  a 
winning,  earnest  manner,  which  fascinate  those  who  come 
across  him.  Among  the  religious  ladies  of  Alexandria  he 
is  said  to  have  had  from  the  first  a  following  of  not  less 
than  seven  hundred.  This  strange,  captivating,  moon 
struck  giant  is  the  heretic  Arius,  or,  as  his  adversaries 
call  him,  the  madman  of  Ares,  or  Mars  "  :  and  the  descrip 
tion  given  here  of  him  is  not  that  of  a  partisan  of  his  own, 
but  of  a  Trinitarian  ecclesiastic. 

Many  sittings  of  the  council  passed,  day  after  day,  in 
which  the  paschal  controversy,  the  Melitian  schism,  and 
other  matters  of  a  theological  character,  were  discussed 
and  determined,  but  the  heretic  remained  utterly  silent. 
He  was  ever  ready  to  give  aid,  advice,  counsel,  and  furnish 
references  to  authorities,  to  those  who  applied  to  him,  but 
not  once  did  he  open  his  lips  to  speak  to  the  assembly. 
But  the  purpose  of  Constantine  to  crush  him  wavered 
not,  and  the  emperor  had  one  rare  quality — he  knew  how 
to  wait. 

One  evening,  after  the  close  of  the  council's  daily  ses 
sion,  the  ancient  Bishop  Alexander,  accompanied  by  his 
young  Archdeacon  Athanasius,  was  proceeding  toward  his 
lodgings,  when  Marcellus,  the  Bishop  of  Ancyra,  accosted 
him  :  "  Hail,  bishop  !  Prom  what  thou  didst  tell  me  of 
his  fierce,  aggressive  nature,  I  am  astonished  to  find  that 
the  Libyan  madman  continueth  so  quiet.  How  is  it  that 


320  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

thou  hast  called  him  vehement,  fierce,  eloquent,  and  con 
troversial  ?  " 

"  He  hath  some  secret  end  in  view/'  replied  the 
bishop,  "  and  I  can  not  fathom  his  purposes.  But  on  to 
morrow,  Athanasius,  who  speaketh  for  me  in  the  council, 
shall  provoke  him  to  some  reply,  and  thou  mayst  then 
judge  of  his  quiet  disposition  for  thyself." 

"  Good  enough,"  said  Marcellus.  "  No  man  can  pick 
a  quarrel  with  an  oyster  that  keepeth  its  shell  closed." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  SUBVERSION   OF  THE    PRIMITIVE   CHUBCH. 

ON  the  next  meeting  of  the  council,  Hosius,  Bishop  of 
Cordova,  offered  a  resolution  that  the  Church  should  make 
a  decree  requiring  all  the  married  clergy  to  separate  from 
their  wives  and  lead  lives  of  celibacy.  Some  objected  to 
this,  on  the  ground  that  the  practice  of  the  Church  had 
never  prohibited  the  marriage  of  clergymen  of  any  rank  ; 
others  insisted  on  adopting  the  rule,  because  clerical  mar 
riages,  besides  other  inconveniences,  would  tend  to  make 
the  office  of  bishop  an  hereditary  one,  and  so  elevate  im 
proper  persons  to  that  sacred  place.  But  the  chief  oppo 
sition  "  came  from  a  most  unexpected  quarter.  From 
among  the  Egyptian  bishops  stepped  out  into  the  midst, 
looking  out  of  his  one  remaining  eye,  and  halting  on 
his  paralyzed  leg,  the  old  hermit-confessor,  Paphnutius. 
With  a  roar  of  indignation  rather  than  a  speech,  he  broke 
into  the  debate  :  '  Lay  not  this  heavy  yoke  on  the  clergy. 
Marriage  is  honorable  in  all,  and  the  bed  undefiled.  By 
exaggerated  strictness  you  will  do  the  Church  more  harm 
than  good.  All  can  not  bear  such  an  ascetic  rule.  The 
wives  themselves  will  suffer  from  it.  Marriage  itself  is 
continence.  It  is  enough  for  a  man  to  keep  from  mar- 


322  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

riage  after  he  has  been  ordained,  according  to  the  ancient 
custom,  but  do  not  separate  him  from  the  wife  whom  once 
for  all  he  married  when  he  was  a  layman  ! ' 

"  His  speech  produced  a  profound  impression.  His 
own  austere  life  and  unblemished  celibacy  gave  force  to 
every  word  he  uttered." 

The  resolution,  or  proposition,  was  voted  down,  but 
the  discussion  of  it  gave  Athanasius  the  opportunity  he 
wanted.  Having  arisen  with  that  almost  irresistible  grace 
and  suavity  which  distinguished  him,  the  beautiful  young 
man,  in  a  light,  musical,  mocking  tone,  that  must  have 
been  terribly  irritating  to  a  grave  and  reverend  presbyter 
like  Arius,  spoke  as  follows  :  "I  greatly  marvel,  brethren, 
that  we  have  not  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  that  princely 
readiness  and  strength  in  debate  for  which  the  very 
learned  presbyter  Arius  hath  so  great  reputation,  upon 
this  important  question.  Surely  a  minister  who  is  reputed 
to  have  at  his  beck  and  call,  day  or  night,  rain  or  shine, 
more  than  seven  hundred  virgins  and  widows  in  our  good 
city  of  Alexandria,  ought  to  be  able,  from  his  own  expe 
rience,  to  give  us  wise  counsel  concerning  the  celibacy  of 
the  clergy.  I  hope  that  he  will  do  so." 

The  brilliant,  smiling  youth  resumed  his  seat,  and 
every  eye  was  turned  upon  the  Libyan,  but  he  neither 
rose  nor  answered.  The  grand,  shaggy  head  bent  slightly 
forward,  and  a  momentary  gleam  shone  in  the  somber 
eyes  ;  while  a  peculiar  shiver  passed  over  his  whole  frame, 
the  python's  idiopathic  legacy,  and  a  weary  sigh  exhaled 
through  the  ashy  lips ;  but  he  took  not  even  the  slightest 
notice  of  Athanasius,  nor  of  his  flippant  speech.  It  was 


THE  SUBVERSION   OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.    823 

manifest  that  all  of  them  expected  him  to  say  something, 
knowing  the  readiness  and  splendor  of  his  oratory,  but 
he  was  utterly  silent ;  and  this  silence,  following  the  young 
archdeacon's  sally  against  him,  seemed  to  indicate  an  un 
pleasant  state  of  feeling — or  what  did  it  indicate  ? 

"  He  could  browbeat  his  bishop  in  Alexandria,"  whis 
pered  a  bishop  to  Eusebius  of  -Nicomedia,  "  but  he  quaileth 
in  the  presence  of  the  emperor." 

But  Eusebius  answered :  "He  quaileth  not  for  any 
man  ;  but  he  answereth  not,  because  to  do  so  might  be  to 
recognize  this  assembly  as  a  council  of  the  Church,  and 
that  he  hath  not  yet  done  by  speech  or  act." 

Then  the  headstrong  and  violent  Marcellus,  Bishop  of 
Ancyra,  cried  out  in  fierce,  defiant  tones  :  "  Hearest  thou 
not  the  friendly  utterances  of  Athanasius,  who  speaketh 
for  Alexander,  thy  bishop  ?  or  dost  thou  carry  thyself  so 
high  as  to  treat  with  contempt  thy  learned  and  venerable 
bishop,  thou  iron-hearted  heretic,  that  thou  answerest 
nothing  ?  " 

The  Libyan  turned  his  head  slightly,  and,  fixing  his 
sad  eyes  upon  Marcellus,  gazed  upon  him  steadily,  quietly, 
compassionately,  but  did  not  utter  a  word ;  and  immedi 
ately  there  was  a  clamor  throughout  the  assembly,  some 
condemning  the  intemperate  words  and  manner  of  the 
Bishop  of  Ancyra,  and  some  the  seeming  insolence  of 
Arius.  Then  the  Emperor  Constantine  arose,  and  forth 
with  the  clamor  subsided,  and  the  emperor  said  :  "  I  have 
often  and  earnestly  desired  that  peace  and  Christian  char 
ity  might  characterize  our  deliberations.  The  remarks 
and  the  manner  of  the  Bishop  of  Ancyra  are  hasty  and 


32-i  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

uncalled  for ;  but  the  obstinate  silence  of  the  presbyter 
indicateth  a  proud  and  scornful  mind — for  it  is  known 
to  all  that  the  young  archdeacon  speaketh  for  the  holy 
Bishop  Alexander  because  of  his  age  and  feebleness ;  and 
if  thou  dost  decline  to  notice  the  brilliant  Athanasius  be 
cause  of  his  youth,  thou  must  not  despise  thy  venerable 
superior  who  speaketh  through  him.  I  command  thee, 
therefore,  to  answer  as  if  Alexander  himself  had  addressed 
thee." 

The  emperor  sat  down,  and  a  murmur  of  admiration 
and  applause  ran  through  the  entire  assembly.  Then  the 
mighty  heretic  arose,  and  in  his  sweet,  incisive,  penetrat 
ing  voice,  answered  :  "  By  command  of  Augustus,  the 
emperor,  whose  legal  subject  I  have  become  by  the  defeat 
and  death  of  the  late  Emperor  Licinius,  I  arise  to  declare 
that  if  any  one  supposeth  I  did  fail  to  notice  the  remarks 
of  the  young,  learned,  and  eloquent  archdeacon,  because 
of  any  feeling  of  scorn  for  his  youth,  or  for  his  office,  or 
because  of  any  uncharity  toward  him,  or  any  one  else  in 
this  assembly,  he  doeth  me  much  injustice.  This,  it  seem- 
eth  to  me,  is  well  proved  by  the  fact,  which  ye  all  do  know, 
that  during  the  weeks  that  ye  have  been  assembled,  I  have 
taken  no  part  in  any  discussion,  ecclesiastical  or  political, 
in  which  ye  have  engaged.  Because  I  am  not  an  officer 
of  the  Roman  government,  civil,  military,  or  judicial,  and 
have  not  thought  it  to  be  consistent  with  the  position  and 
duties  of  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  to  as 
sume  the  right  to  take  part  in  the  business  of  a  royal 
council,  seeing  that  my  life  hath  been  devoted  to  religious 
affairs  which  belong  to  our  Lord,  and  not  to  civil,  mili- 


THE  SUBVERSION   OF  THE  PRIMITIVE   CHURCH.     325 

tary.  or  judicial  functions  which  pertain  unto  the  emperor, 
I  supposed  that  it  would  be  as  indecent  and  presumptuous 
for  me  to  meddle  with  the  business  of  the  empire,  by 
virtue  of  my  office,  as  it  would  be  for  a  Roman  judge,  or 
centurion,  to  intrude  into  my  church  and  preach  the  gos 
pel  by  virtue  of  his  judicial  or  military  rank.  If  it  had 
been  otherwise,  I  might  have  had  something  to  say  when 
I  perceived  that  the  royal  authority  offered  a  gross  insult 
to  Christ  and  to  his  Church  by  making  Elia  Capitolina, 
the  ancient  Jerusalem,  the  oldest  and  most  honored  see  in 
Christendom,  secondary  to  new  Nicomedia,  in  order  to 
accommodate  ecclesiastical  departments  to  the  other  po 
litical  divisions  of  the  empire  ;  nor  would  I  speak  at  all 
except  at  the  command  of  the  emperor." 

Having  thus  spoken,  Arius  took  his  seat.  The  words 
opened  up  plainly  and  unmistakably  the  vast  difference 
that  separated  the  Christianity  of  the  first  three  centuries 
from  the  imperial  Church  of  Constantine  :  the  allegiance 
that  belonged  to  Jesus  alone  was  in  process  of  being 
transferred  to  the  emperor.  It  was  to  extirpate  this  very 
freedom  of  conscience,  this  very  liberty  of  the  gospel  that 
acknowledged  no  master  but  Christ,  that  Constantine  had 
convened  the  council ;  and  although  he  had  known  that 
.the  question  must  come  up,  and  must  be  met,  and  al 
though  he  had  been  for  years,  and  especially  since  the 
summoning  of  the  bishops,  using  every  artifice,  argument, 
and  influence,  and  urging  his  ablest  agents,  to  be  prepared 
for  it  when  it  might  come,  he  and  his  partisans  had  de 
termined  that  it  should  be  raised  out  of  proceedings  to  be 
instituted  against  Arius  upon  charges  of  heresy  ;  but  the 


326  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

wonderful  adroitness  with  which  the  great  presbyter  had 
changed  the  face  of  the  whole  matter,  and  had  actually 
put  both  the  emperor  and  his  council  on  the  defensive, 
took  Constantine  utterly  by  surprise,  and  for  a  moment  he 
lost  even  his  marvelous  self-control,  and  cried  out  in  a 
voice  of  thunder,  "  Then  why  art  thou  here  ?  " 

And  Arius,  with  scintillant  eyes,  but  in  placid,  melo 
dious  tones,  responded  :  "  I  came  hither  upon  the  written 
order  of  the  emperor,  as  I  supposed  it  to  be  the  duty  of 
a  law-abiding  subject  to  do  ;  but  certainly  not  as  an  officer 
of  the  Eoman  government,  entitled  to  participate  in  royal 
businesses." 

This  calm  and  dignified  reply  still  more  clearly  revealed 
to  all  the  assembly  the  fact  that  their  enthusiastic  love  for 
Constantine  had  too  much  blinded  their  eyes  to  the  unde 
niable  truth  that  the  council  was  oecumenical,  not  apos 
tolical — the  affair  of  the  emperor,  not  of  the  Christ.  This 
reply  was  not  ostensibly  connected  with  any  heretical 
teachings  of  Arms,  or  of  any  one  else,  and  raised  no  ques 
tion  of  orthodoxy  at  all ;  it  struck  at  the  very  tap-roots  of 
the  whole  movement.  "  "Whose  council  is  this  ?  "  was  the 
question  that  each  involuntarily  asked  himself,  and  it  was 
manifest  that  the  simple,  unobjectionable  words  of  the 
Libyan  produced  a  profound  impression  upon  many  hearts- 
that  began  to  consider  whether  the  fact  that  the  council 
was  royal  did  not  imply  in  itself  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
Christian,  but  was  really  treasonable  toward  Christ ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  solemn  silence  caused  by  such  anxious 
meditation,  the  virulent  and  incautious  Bishop  of  Ancyra 
cried  out :  "  Who  art  thou  that  censurest  the  victorious 


THE  SUBVERSION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.    327 

and  holy  emperor,  and  condemnest  the  oecumenical  coun 
cil  of  the  Church  with  thy  sly,  serpentine  wriggle  and 
speech  ?  Art  thou  not  Arius  the  heretic  ?  Arius  the  de- 
famer  of  the  Son  of  God  ?  thou  bold  scorner  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  !  thou  cunning  madman  ! " 

But  Arius  only  looked  upon  the  furious  bishop  with 
a  sad  and  pitying  smile. 

Then  Constantino  cried  out :  "  Answer  thou  the 
bishop!" 

Then,  still  quietly  and  pleasantly,  with  a  peculiar, 
mesmeric  light  in  his  somber  eyes,  and  strange,  thrill 
ing  sibilation  in  his  penetrating  voice,  Arius  arose  and 
said  :  "  By  the  command  of  Augustus  I  answer  that  I 
have  not  censured  the  emperor,  nor  condemned  the 
council.  As  to  my  being  a  heretic,  I  only  reply  that, 
if  this  thing  be  true,  it  is  no  concern  of  the  emperor's, 
who  hath  never  been  ordained  to  be  the  keeper  of  my 
conscience.  It  is  an  affair  entirely  between  the  Master — 
Christ — and  his  servant  Arius.  For  ye  all  do  know 
that  there  is  no  Roman  law  prescribing  what  we  must 
believe  or  disbelieve,  since  the  persecutors  lost  power  to 
enforce  obedience  to  their  laws  prescribing  faith  in  false 
gods,  by  the  infliction  of  tortures  and  death,  against 
those  who  for  conscience'  sake  refused  to  obey.  But 
ye  know  that  neither  Jesus  nor  his  apostles  ever  de 
nounced,  nor  authorized  any  human  being  to  denounce, 
a  temporal  penalty  for  heresy ;  for  the  Church  only  pre 
scribes  that  ye  should  refuse  to  fellowship  the  obdurate 
heretic,  or  disobedient  person  ;  and  I  trust  you  far  enough 
to  believe  that  if  any  pagan  emperor,  or  any  human  au- 


328  ARTUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

thority,  should  enact  laws  requiring  you  to  believe,  or  to 
do,  anything  contrary  to  good  conscience,  ye  would  be 
faithful  Christians  enough  to  refuse  obedience  to  such 
laws,  as  our  fathers  from  the  beginning  have  gloriously 
done.  For  this  is  a  matter  between  each  man  and  his  God 
only ;  not  between  him  and  the  government  which  exer 
cises  dominion  over  him.  This  the  Church  hath  held  from 
the  beginning ;  and  when  the  heathen  laws  did  prescribe 
that  ye  who  are  here  assembled  should  do  and  believe 
things  contrary  to  Christ  and  to  conscience,  ye  did  refuse, 
so  that  every  bishop  here,  except  those  eleven  who  come 
from  the  remotest  East,  hath  endured  tortures  rather  than 
obey  the  human  laws.  If,  therefore,  I  be  a  heretic,  as 
brother  Marcellus  of  Ancyra  ignorantly  supposeth,  what 
have  the  empire  or  its  laws  to  do  with  that  ?  Why  speak 
ye  of  orthodoxy,  or  of  heterodoxy,  in  a  great  royal,  politi 
cal  assembly  like  this ;  unless,  perhaps,  some  of  ye  are 
willing  to  believe  that  the  great  and  powerful  emperor  is 
also  a  god,  having  charge  of  your  faith  and  conscience, 
as  well  as  of  your  political  condition  ;  so  that  what  the 
law  of  Constantino  shall  prescribe  as  right  to  be  believed 
and  done  shall  be  your  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and 
not  what  our  Lord  Christ  hath  prescribed?  For  me,  a 
poor  presbyter  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  assume  the 
right  to  deliberate  upon  and  prescribe  laws  for  the  em 
pire  would  be  gross  impudence  and  arrogance ;  for  any 
human  authority  to  usurp  the  right  to  make  laws  con 
trolling  the  faith  of  Christ's  Church,  would  be  as  gross 
a  sacrilege.  "Was  Constantine  crucified  for  you  ?  Or 
were  ye  baptized  into  his  name  ?  And  do  ye  hope  for 


THE  SUBVERSION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.    329 

salvation  by  faith  in  and  obedience  to  him  ?  I  was 
not.  I  have  come,  therefore,  hither  in  obedience  to  the 
imperial  mandate,  and  have  spoken  by  the  emperor's 
command.  As  to  the  empire,  I  have  no  authority  and 
no  desire  to  make  laws  for  it ;  as  to  my  Christian  faith, 
no  man  nor  angel  hath  right  or  power  to  meddle  there 
with,  or  to  prescribe  laws  for  it.  It  is  a  thing  between 
my  soul  and  its  Saviour,  whom  I  have  served  all  my 
life  long  in  spite  of  imperial  laws,  and  whom  I  will 
continue  to  serve,  no  matter  what  laws  may  be  enacted. 
Brethren,  will  ye  do  likewise  ?  or  will  ye  now  deny  the 
Christ?" 

For  an  instant  the  old  man  raised  his  tall  form  up 
right,  the  shaggy  head  sprang  forward  upon  the  long, 
peculiar  neck,  and  the  somber,  sad  eyes  rested  upon  al 
most  every  face.  Then  quietly  he  resumed  his  seat. 

Athanasius,  Hosius,  Constantine,  and  others,  saw  at 
the  same  instant  that  against  the  impregnable  position 
taken  by  Arius  no  assault  could  prosper.  They  knew 
that  constant  and  almost  imperceptible  steps  had  been 
necessary  for  years  to  seduce  any  large  section  of  the 
Western  Church  from  that  very  position,  and  that  the 
church  which  Ulfilas  had  planted  among  the  Goths  had 
only  been  driven  therefrom  by  the  merciless  use  of  fire 
and  sword.  They  knew  well  that  the  line  of  demarka- 
tion  between  all  earthly  kingdoms  and  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  the  world  was  clearly  and  unmistakably  drawn, 
consisting  not  alone  in  faith  and  sentiment,  but  in  a 
social  and  political  policy  which  had  been  for  three  cen 
turies  the  glory  of  Christianity,  and  had  been  so  fear- 


330  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

fully  illustrated  by  recent  persecutions  under  Licinius  in 
the  East,  that  the  council  could  not  be  deluded  in  ref 
erence  thereto ;  and  they  were  seeking  with  anxious 
solicitude  to  find  some  way  to  avoid  further  discussion 
upon  the  matter,  which  might  arouse  an  interest  in  it 
that  would  dissolve  the  council  upon  the  point  which 
the  Libyan  urged,  that  the  Church  could  not  meet  in 
oacumenical  council  at  the  order  of  an  emperor,  and 
make  decrees  to  be  forced  by  imperial  law,  without 
forsaking  Christ.  Long  before  the  bold  presbyter  had 
ceased  to  speak,  the  emperor  had  determined  in  his  own 
mind  that  it  was  necessary  to  gain  time  for  consultation 
and  for  concerted  action,  and  especially  necessary  to  stop 
the  discussion  of  this  dangerous  question  as  to  the  right 
of  a  royal  council  to  legislate  for  the  Church  of  Christ — 
the  tendency  of  which  was  obviously  to  separate  the 
Church  from  imperialism  altogether,  rather  than  to  ac 
complish  his  determined  purpose  of  blending  the  Church 
with  imperial  law  and  make  himself  head  of  both.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  the  heretic  sat  down,  at  a  sign  from 
the  emperor,  Alexander  and  Hosius  adjourned  the  coun 
cil  until  the  following  day. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ABDICATION   OF   CONSTANTINO. 

THERE  is  little  doubt  but  upon  that  night  so  many 
of  the  council  favored  the  views  of  the  Libyan,  that  if 
a  vote  had  been  taken  upon  the  point  urged  by  him, 
the  council  would  have  resolved  that  its  own  organiza 
tion  was  contrary  to  Christ ;  was  an  effort  thoughtlessly 
made  to  put  Constantine  in  place  of  Jesus  at  the  head 
of  the  Church,  and  would  have  dissolved  itself,  until  sum 
moned  to  convene  by  the  agreement  of  the  bishops  only. 
Almost  the  whole  night  was  spent  in  anxious  consultation 
between  those  bishops  who  were  ready  to  maintain  the 
freedom  of  the  Church  at  any  hazard,  and  the  great  he- 
resiarch,  whom  they  instinctively  recognized  as  leader  of 
the  struggle  in  favor  of  religious  liberty,  as  to  the  most 
available  path  of  escape  from  the  dangerous  and  unchris 
tian  position  into  which  they  had  been  led  by  their  zeal 
and  love  for  the  emperor  who  protected  the  Church  from 
persecution.  Arius  told  them  plainly  that  if  the  Church 
of  Christ  was  to  be  governed  by  an  oecumenical  or  royal 
council,  its  independence  was  gone  ;  and  in  place  of  being 
the  "  kingdom  of  heaven "  upon  earth,  which  our  Lord 
had  organized,  the  Church  must  become  a  human  institu- 


332  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

tion — part  of  the  empire  of  Constantine,  or  of  any  other 
prince  or  power  to  whom  its  members  might  be  subject ; 
its  faith  and  policy  dictated  by  Roman  law,  not  by  the 
word  of  God  ;  its  doctrines  dependent  upon  the  mutations 
of  government,  not  upon  the  teachings  of  Jesus  :  a  thing 
by  which  the  cause  of  Christ  is  verily  betrayed.  There 
were  none  in  the  council  who  did  not  perceive  this  truth, 
although  there  were  some  who  were  for  Constantine,  even 
against  Jesus  himself. 

During  nearly  the  whole  night,  also,  Hosius,  Athana- 
sius,  Eustatius,  Marcellus,  Constantine,  and  others,  were 
engaged  in  eager  consultation,  but  seemed  unable  to  find 
any  solution  of  the  difficulty.  And  the  next  morning 
Athanasius  reported  to  the  emperor  that  the  more  they 
had  considered  the  matter,  the  more  difficult  and  dangerous 
it  had  appeared ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  serious 
risk  of  dissolving  the  council  was  to  avoid  all  discussion 
Upon  its  right  to  sit  for  the  Church,  and  to  let  Arius  alone 
as  long  as  he  might  appear  disposed  to  remain  quiet. 
Many  hearts  were  burdened  with  anxiety,  and  Eusebius  of 
Caesarea  was  especially  oppressed  with  deep  concern. 

"  And  if  the  council  when  assembled  shall  sustain  the 
views  of  Arius,"  he  had  once  asked  Constantine,  "  what 
then  ? "  and  the  emperor  had  answered,  "  A  religious 
war,  perhaps,  or  a  return  to  paganism  ! " 

But  to  Athanasius  and  others  who  urged  the  necessity 
of  temporizing  with  Arius,  and  avoiding  all  discussion  of 
the  vital  points  which  the  heretic  lost  no  opportunity  of 
forcing  upon  them,  Constantine  finally  said :  "  I  will 
make  no  compromise  with  the  Libyan ;  it  is  necessary  to 


THE  ABDICATION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  333 

crush  that  serpent's  head,  and  I  will  do  it  !  He  hath  cer 
tainly  evinced  marvelous  skill,  intelligence,  and  daring,  in 
forcing  an  issue  upon  us  which  we  do  not  desire  to  de 
termine  ;  he  would  have  made  a  magnificent  general ;  but 
I  will  ruin  him  to-day.  Rest  ye  all  in  peace." 

And  when  the  council  assembled,  all  of  them  filled 
with  anxiety  as  to  what  might  occur,  and  many  of  them 
determined,  even  at  the  risk  of  martyrdom,  not  to  take 
any  further  part  in  the  deliberations  of  an  imperial  con 
clave  such  as  they  clearly  perceived  that  one  to  be, '  the 
emperor  arose  first  of  all,  and,  with  wonderful  grace  and 
ease,  addressed  them  as  follows  :  "  Ye  know  my  love  for 
all  of  you,  my  friends,  and  my  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  • 
But  some  among  you  have  taken  offense,  and  have  even 
doubted  the  propriety  or  binding  force  of  your  own  de 
crees  upon  the  conscience  of  Christians,  because  it  hath 
appeared  to  you  that  the  emperor  hath  assumed  authority 
over  you  in  regard  to  matters  of  faith.  This  is  surely  a 
grave  mistake.  To  correct  this  false  and  injurious  im 
pression,  I  here  commit  to  your  presiding  bishops  my 
ring,  my  sword,  and  my  scepter  ;  and  unto  you  I  give 
power  this  day  over  mine  empire,  to  do  in  it  whatever  you 
think  fit  for  the  promotion  of  religion  and  for  the  advan 
tage  of  the  faithful.  Ye  are  the  law-makers  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  not  him  whom  God  hath  made  Emperor  of 
Rome.  Proceed  with  your  sacred  business  in  your  own  time 
and  way.  If  ye  shall  deem  it  to  be  necessary  to  remove 
even  the  most  intangible  objection  of  the  cavilers  to  do  so, 
ye  can  dissolve  the  council,  return  to  your  homes,  and  let 

the  bishops  reassemble  when  and  where  ye  will.     But  if, 

22 


334  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

being  already  assembled  at  some  expense  of  time  and  trou 
ble,  ye  deem  it  more  expedient  now  to  constitute  your 
selves  into  a  church  council,  do  so  in  your  own  time  and 
manner.  Farewell ! " 

And,  having  so  spoken,  the  emperor  bowed  gracefully 
to  the  admiring  assembly  and  withdrew.  But  almost  im 
mediately  Hosius,  Bishop  of  Cordova,  proposed,  and  with 
out  a  dissenting  voice  the  council  voted,  that  a  deputation 
of  bishops  be  appointed  to  inform  the  emperor  that  the 
Church  had  met  in  council,  and  to  request  him  to  return 
and  bestow  upon  them  the  benefit  of  his  great  wisdom  and 
Christian  zeal,  in  aid  of  their  deliberations  ;  and  smilingly 
the  emperor  returned. 

The  action  of  the  emperor  was  just  that  of  the  pre 
eminently  greatest  politician ;  and  Arius,  then  first  fully 
realizing  the  vast  intellectual  resources  of  the  most  con 
summate  statesman  whom  the  world  has  seen,  murmured 
unto  himself,  "  Again  is  Christ  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  wicked  men  !  "  And  thenceforward  calmly,  almost  in 
differently,  he  looked  forward  to  what  he  supposed  to  be 
his  own  impending  doom  ;  for  he  well  knew  that  Constan- 
tine  spared  no  human  life  that,  even  by  chance,  might 
seem  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his  self-aggrandizement :  and 
if  his  marvelous  sagacity  could  conceive  and  execute  such 
an  act  as  he  had  just  accomplished,  what  was  there  of 
which  he  could  be  incapable  ? 

Then  the  bishop  Hosius  of  Cordova  said  :  "  Brethren, 
it  is  manifest  that  the  technical  objections  which  found 
place  in  the  consciences  of  some  among  us,  based  upon  the 
seeming  authority  of  our  most  glorious  and  Christian  em- 


THE  ABDICATION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  335 

peror  over  us,  have  been  thoroughly  eradicated  by  his  own 
most  wise,  pious,  and  unsolicited  condescension,  and  that 
we  sit  now  as  an  absolutely  independent  body  for  the  con 
sideration  of  the  business  and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  as  much  as  if  we  had  come  of  our  own  motion 
originally  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  without  the  generous 
and  Christian  liberality  of  our  royal  friend  and  protector. 
Let  us,  therefore,  proceed  with  our  deliberations  to  secure 
the  prosperity  of  the  Church  of  our  blessed  Lord  ! " 

In  this  sentiment  all  concurred ;  and  even  the  dullest 
among  them  immediately  perceived  that  the  crafty  act  of 
Constantine  had  cut  out  from  under  the  great  heretic  the 
only  sure  foundation  upon  which  he  might  have  builded, 
and  had  left  him  at  the  mercy  of  the  emperor. 

For  many  days  the  great  council  proceeded  with  its 
business,  and  sometimes  their  differences  gave  rise  to  ex 
cited  and  earnest  debate,  in  which  the  easy,  marvelous, 
persuasive  eloquence  and  irresistible  manners  of  Athanasius 
raised  the  brilliant  youth  to  the  highest  place  in  the  opin 
ions  of  all ;  in  which  the  magnificent  Spaniard  Hosius 
fully  maintained  the  almost  apostolic  reverence  that  had 
long  been  given  to  his  great  age,  vast  erudition,  and  grand 
character  ;  and  in  which  both  the  Eusebii  added  to  their 
former  wide-spread  reputation  for  learning,  piety,  and  in 
fluence.  Many  other  names,  before  that  time  almost  un 
known  beyond  the  local  limits  of  their  own  churches 
and  bishoprics,  became  celebrated  throughout  Christendom 
for  various  excellences  or  for  striking  characteristics. 
Only  the  sad-eyed  and  seemingly  broken-hearted  presbyter 
Arius  appeared  to  be  indifferent  to  the  course  of  business, 


336  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

and  silent  during  the  discussion  of  questions  upon  which 
all  knew  he  might  have  brought  to  bear  an  unequaled  mass 
of  erudition,  illumined  by  the  strong  light  of  genius,  if  he 
had  cared  to  do  so. 

Gradually,  little  by  little,  no  one  knew  how,  the  con 
viction  spread  throughout  the  great  assembly  that  the  man 
Arius  was  doomed,  and  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
escape  for  him ;  and  day  by  day  they  were  awaiting  the 
institution  of  proceedings  against  him  which  would  be  the 
beginning  of  the  end  anticipated.  None  knew  whence 
this  weird  impression  arose,  and  few  ever  spoke  of  it  : 
for  no  man  that  ever  ruled  on  earth  knew  better  how  to 
create  or  how  to  guide  for  his  own  purposes  that  intan 
gible,  remorseless,  and  murderous  influence  to  which  in 
later  times  we  have  applied  the  expression  "  public  opin 
ion  "  than  did  the  wonderful  Emperor  Constantine,  ages 
before  other  statesmen  recognized  even  the  existence  of 
such  a  force.  And  through  the  more  gifted  agents,  lay 
and  clerical,  who  were  devoted  to  him  heart  and  soul,  the 
impression  that  the  Libyan  must  be  condemned  grew  im 
perceptibly  but  unceasingly  stronger.  Without  knowing 
why,  the  enemies  of  the  great  presbyter  became  daily  more 
self-confident  and  aggressive ;  without  knowing  why,  the 
lukewarm  and  undecided  souls  that  form  a  considerable 
segment  of  every  large  assembly,  insensibly  withdrew 
themselves  from  his  support,  and  drifted  more  and  more 
into  the  sentiment  of  his  foes  ;  and,  without  knowing  why, 
the  few,  strong,  brave,  earnest  men,  who  decidedly  clung 
to  his  opinions  and  unswervingly  loved  the  man,  began  to 
concentrate  their  forces  and  husband  their  resources  for 


THE  ABDICATION   OF   CONSTANTINE.  337 

some  desperate  and  decisive  straggle  which  they  instinc 
tively  felt  to  be  approaching. 

The  Libyan  himself  had  long  regarded  his  fate  as  de 
cisively  settled.  He  had  interpreted  the  Apocalypse  as 
referring  to  Constantine,  and  did  not  doubt  either  the 
temporary  overthrow  of  Christianity  by  the  emperor,  or 
the  fact  that  he  would  be  involved  in  its  ruin.  He  looked 
without  fear,  perhaps  more  with  a  feeling  of  curiosity 
than  anything  else,  for  signs  which  might  enable  him  to 
form  a  conjecture  as  to  how  long  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
might  be  banished  out  of  the  world  :  its  ultimate  restora 
tion  and  final  triumph  over  human  governments  he  never 
doubted ;  but  he  would  hardly  have  turned  his  hand,  or 
raised  his  head,  to  avoid  the  death  which  he  supposed 
Constantine  had  determined  to  bring  upon  him.  "If," 
he  said  unto  his  intimate  friends,  "  the  emperor's  council 
carry  out  his  wishes,  I  desire  ye  all  to  remember,  in  the 
future,  that  no  Christian  council  hath,  or  hath  ever  at 
tempted,  to  exercise  authority  to  put  any  man  to  death  for 
heresy.  The  only  punishments  the  Church  hath  ever  im 
posed  stop  with  the  refusal  to  fellowship  an  unbeliever 
or  a  wrong-doer.  If  Constantine  condemn  me,  remember 
that  he  is  not  a  bishop,  hath  never  even  been  baptized,  and 
hath  no  authority  to  decide  upon  what  is  or  what  is  not 
heretical ;  and  the  Roman  law  hath  never,  so  far  at  least, 
attempted  to  define  what  a  Christian  may  lawfully  believe. 
Ye  see,  therefore,  that  the  fact  of  my  destruction  illus- 
trateth  well  the  character  of  the  council,  and  showeth  that 
even  the  magnificent  spectacle  of  his  resignation  which  he 
so  well  enacted  can  not  convert  Constantino's  meeting  into 


338  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

a  council  of  the  Christian  Church.  And  I  suppose  that 
this  will  more  plainly  appear  as  the  matter  proceedeth 
further." 

Then  answered  the  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  saying : 
"  Brother,  if  thou  must  perish  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  I 
perish  also  with  thee.  I  am  an  Arian,  and  shall  claim 
the  right  to  die  with  thee  if  any  murder  shall  be  done." 

"  And  I  also  !  "  said  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  "  And  I 
also  ! "  said  Maris  of  Chalcedon  ;  and  Theognis  of  Nicea ; 
and  Menophantes  of  Ephesus ;  and  a  score  of  other 
bishops,  each  in  his  turn  pressing  the  old  presbyter's  hand. 
Then  said  the  presbyter  :  "If  your  resolution  hold,  either 
the  policy  and  craft  of  Constantino  will  deny  us  a  death 
so  glorious,  or  our  martyrdom  will  of  itself  reinstate  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  spite  of  the  emperor.  Let  us  re 
joice,  then,  in  hope  of  the  triumph  of  the  truth  ! " 

And  having  thus  quietly  but  unflinchingly  made  a 
covenant  that,  if  the  matter  should  be  prosecuted  to  ex 
tremities  against  Arius,  they  would  share  his  fate,  and 
thereby  furnish  to  the  whole  body  of  Christians  through 
out  the  world  a  most  terrible  and  unanswerable  protest 
against  the  council  and  the  emperor,  these  devoted  men 
calmly  awaited  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  which  they 
knew  to  be  steadily  approaching,  although  they  were  un 
able  to  determine  from  what  quarter  it  would  come. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"I  HAVE   NO   SUPEKIOR   BUT  CHBIST." 

WHEN  the  council  met  one  morning,  Athanasius  pro 
duced  and  laughingly  read  a  song,  or  hymn,  which  had 
been  written  and  set  to  music  by  the  Libyan,  for  the  use 
of  uneducated  Christians  at  Alexandria,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  memorize  and  keep  in  mind  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  as  he  had  understood  them.  This  song  was 
part  of  a  little  book  entitled  "  Thalia,"  or  "  Songs  of  Joy," 
which  the  presbyter  had  written  for  sailors  and  others 
who  had  no  certain  means  of  attending  regular  religious 
services,  and  in  it  occurred  the  following  expressions  : 
"  God  was  not  always  Father ;  once  he  was  not  Father ; 
afterward  he  became  Father ;  and  his  only-begotten  is 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

And  thereupon  Marcellus,  Bishop  of  Ancyra,  moved  the 
council  to  declare  th#t  this  sentiment  was  heretical ;  and 
that  the  man  who  wrote  it  should  be  expelled  from  the 
Church  of  Christ;  and  Arius  and  his  friends  perceived 
that  the  struggle  for  the  destruction  of  the  presbyter  had 
begun.  For  a  while  the  council-hall  was  filled  with  clam 
orous  and  bitter  denunciations  of  Arius  :  "  The  here 
tic  ! "  "  The  atheist ! "  "  The  defamer  of  Christ ! "  "  The 


340  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

poljtheist ! "  "  The  pagan  !  "  "  The  Libyan  serpent ! " 
"  The  ram  of  Baucalis  ! "  and  almost  every  other  term  of 
reproach  which  the  vocabulary  of  ecclesiasticism  could 
furnish,  were  shouted  throughout  the  hall  by  the  partisans 
of  Constantine.  Finally,  the  clamor  seemed  to  wear  itself 
out,  and,  order  having  been  partially  restored,  Potammon 
of  Hierapolis,  a  confessor  whom  the  pagans  had  left  blind 
and  lame,  straightened  up  himself  and  with  great  awk 
wardness  and  earnestness  cried  out :  "  Brethren,  I  was 
reared  up  in  Central  Africa,  and  know  nothing  of  philos 
ophy,  but  do  try  to  serve  the  Lord,  and  to  avoid  all  her 
esy  and  false  doctrine.  I  have  often  sung  this  song,  not 
knowing  it  was  heresy,  with  my  people  !  What  is  there 
wrong  about  the  song,  then  ?  Do  any  of  you  deny  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  ?  or  that  he 
is  our  Lord  and  Saviour  ?  or  will  some  of  you  now  pre 
tend  to  believe  that  the  Son  is  older  than  the  Father  ? 
What  is  wrong  about  the  song  ?  " 

To  the  same  effect  spoke  many  of  the  friends  of  Arius ; 
and  Maris  of  Chalcedon  said  :  "  The  Gospels  uniformly 
call  Jesus  Christ  the  only-begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  and 
I  have  never  believed  it  necessary  or  proper  to  go  any 
further  than  the  simple,  direct  scriptural  statement." 

Finally,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  obtained  a  hearing,  and, 
speaking  calmly  and  soothingly,  he  said :  "  Brethren,  the 
song  which  ye  have  heard  read  seems  to  be  merely  a  metri 
cal  composition  formed  to  aid  the  memory  of  those  who 
were  unable  to  read  and  write,  and  those  who  had  no  copy 
of  the  Scriptures,  in  keeping  in  mind  certain  scriptural 
phrases  and  doctrines ;  and  I  could  not  be  led  to  suspect 


"I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR  BUT  CHRIST."          341 

a  great  and  pious  presbyter  of  heresy  upon  such  a  cause  as 
that.  Let  us  proceed,  then,  decently  and  in  order ;  and 
if  ye  would  know  truly  what  Arius  hath  taught  as  reli 
gion,  call  upon  him  to  declare  what  he  hath  so  taught. 
This  seemeth  to  me  to  be  the  only  fair  and  honorable 
course,  worthy  of  a  Christian  assembly,  if  any  one  think 
there  is  cause  to  suppose  that  he  hath  taught  anything 
contrary  to  Scripture." 

This  reasonable  counsel  at  once  prevailed  with  the 
greater  number,  and  by  a  large  vote  they  requested  Arius 
to  declare  his  teachings.  Thereupon  the  old  heretic  arose, 
and  in  his  strange,  peculiar,  fascinating  tone  and  manner, 
spoke  as  follows  :  "  Brethren,  I  have  never  taught  any 
thing  concerning  our  Lord  as  religion,  except  that  which 
is  expressly  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures  ;  to  wit,  that  Jesus 
is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
I  do  not  know  anything,  and  have  never  taught  as  articles 
of  faith  necessary  to  be  believed,  anything  except  what  is 
thus  expressly  and  definitively  stated  in  the  Gospels.  Of 
course,  like  every  man  who  thinks  at  all,  I  have  meditated 
often  and  earnestly  about  the  philosophy  of  the  facts 
stated,  and  have  formed  in  my  own  mind  certain  specula 
tions  in  relation  thereto  which  are  satisfactory  to  mine 
own  understanding,  and  I  have  not  hesitated  to  declare 
these  opinions  in  all  proper  times  and  places ;  but  I  have 
never  said,  at  any  time  or  place,  that  these  merely  philo 
sophical  speculations  upon  the  nature  of  Deity  were  bind 
ing  upon  any  man's  conscience,  or  that  they  should  be 
taught  and  believed  as  the  rule  of  any  man's  faith  and 
practice ;  because  they  have  not  been  revealed  or  declared 


342  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

as  such  by  the  word  of  God.  If  any  man  allege  that  I 
have  done  otherwise,  let  him  make  the  charge  in  writing 
and  produce  the  proof,  as  was  the  custom  at  every  Christian 
council  in  such  cases  that  hath  ever  been  held  upon  the 
motion  of  the  bishops  authorized  to  call  a  council,  as  at 
Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Rome,  in  Pontus,  Gaul,  Mesopotamia, 
and  Ephesus." 

The  presbyter  said  no  more,  but  quietly  resumed  hie 
seat,  and  the  calm,  grave,  and  reasonable  manner  in  which 
he  had  met  and  disposed  of  the  vociferations  which  had  as 
sailed  him,  in  the  opinion  of  nearly  all,  left  no  course  to 
be  pursued  with  decency  except  to  present  written  charges 
against  him,  and  offer  proofs  thereof.  But  such  a  course 
did  not  by  any  means  suit  the  purposes  of  those  who  were 
resolved  upon  his  ruin  ;  and  Athanasius,  who  at  all  times 
was  able  to  command  a  respectful  hearing  at  the  hands 
of  the  assembly,  without  seeming  to  notice  the  challenge 
thrown  down  by  the  Libyan,  said  in  his  own  winning 
and  seemingly  respectful  way :  "  Hast  thou  not  publicly 
and  customarily,  in  thy  Baucalis  church,  in  Alexandria, 
preached  things  that  were  contrary  to  the  views  of  the 
Bishop  Alexander — contrary  to  his  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  for  which  he  did  order  that  thou  be  suspended 
from  thy  ministry ;  and  didst  not  thou  pertinaciously  re 
fuse  to  obey  his  episcopal  order,  and  obstinately  persevere 
in  proclaiming  thine  abominable  heresies  ?  Wilt  thou  now 
deny  this  ?  " 

Then  with  an  effort  to  preserve  his  self-control  that 
sent  a  strange  shiver  creeping  over  his  gaunt  and  mighty 
frame,  the  presbyter  made  answer :  "  It  appeareth,  breth- 


"I   HAVE   NO   SUPERIOR   BUT   CHRIST."         34.3 

ren,  that  this  gifted  youth  hath  been  taught  to  believe  that 
it  is  heresy  to  differ  in  opinion  with  the  learned  and  pious 
brother,  Alexander  !  It  is  very  true  that  I  and  my  brother 
Alexander  have  somewhat  differed  in  opinion,  but  I  am 
not  advised  that  he  hath  any  more  authority  to  dictate  my 
opinions  than  have  I  to  dictate  his  ;  and  I  am  very  certain 
that,  wherein  the  bishop  hath  differed  with  me,  he  is  in 
error." 

But  Constantine  cried  out,  "  Answer  thou  whether 
thou  hast  preached  in  spite  of  the  order  of  suspension 
made  against  thee  by  thy  superior ! " 

And  the  old  heretic  arose  again,  and  answered :  "  I 
had  supposed  that  the  answer  already  made  would  be  suf 
ficient  for  any  bishop,  but  being  commanded  by  an  unbap- 
tized  emperor  to  answer  yet  further,  I  have  to  say  that 
I  have  no  '  superior '  but  Christ ;  as  for  the  order  of 
brother  Alexander  '  suspending '  me  from  the  exercise  of 
the  functions  of  a  presbyter,  all  the  clergy  here  assembled 
well  know  that  it  is  void.  The  day  hath  not  yet  come 
when  any  one  brother  in  the  Church  can  'suspend'  an 
other.  I  suppose  that,  under  the  legal  religion  which  is  to 
replace  the  gospel  of  Christ,  a  bishop  will  have  some  such 
authority  over  a  presbyter  as  a  legionary  hath  over  a  cen 
turion,  or  a  centurion  over  a  soldier ;  but  we  have  not 
quite  reached  that  condition  !  As  to  the  differences  of 
opinion  between  myself  and  the  brother  Alexander  and 
others,  I  will  simply  state  that  our  good  city  of  Alexan 
dria  hath  a  population  marvelously  intellectual,  and  greatly 
addicted  to  the  study  of  philosophy.  Hence  it  hath  hap 
pened  that  many  of  the  brethren,  and  some  even  of  the 


344  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

bishops  and  presbyters,  have  added,  unconsciously  perhaps, 
to  their  faith  in  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  Gospels  certain 
philosophical  notions  intended  for  the  explanation  of  these 
facts,  which  notions  they  have  derived  from  many  teachers 
— chiefly  from  the  great  heathen  Plato,  and  from  his  fol 
lowers,  the  neo-Platonists,  and  from  the  school  of  Philo 
the  Egyptian.  The  learned  and  pious  Bishop  Alexander 
derived  from  some  such  source  (I  know  not  what)  certain 
philosophical  views  which  seemed  to  deny  utterly  the  sep 
arate  existence  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  which  savored 
strongly  of  the  heresy  of  Sabellius  that  had  been  con 
demned  by  more  than  one  Christian  council,  and  which 
did  tend  directly  to  the  subversion  of  the  primitive  Chris 
tian  communities,  and  to  the  overthrow  of  '  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  '  which  Jesus  did  ordain,  and  to  the  substitution 
therefor  of  some  such  ecclesiastical  system  as  I  am  told 
the  emperor  hath  established  in  the  Western  Empire,  in 
which  the  emperor,  not  Christ,  is  head  of  the  Church,  and 
in  which  the  law  prescribes  what  a  man  may  believe  or  not 
believe  (just  as  the  pagan  laws  have  always  done),  instead 
of  the  Scriptures.  So  long  as  brother  Alexander  held 
these  erroneous  opinions  privately,  I  meddled  not  with 
them ;  but  when  he  afterward  saw  proper  to  come  and 
preach  these  heresies  to  mine  own  congregation,  I  guard 
ed  my  community  against  this  pernicious  philosophy ; 
for  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts  furnish  the  only  authority 
concerning  Christ  and  faith  in  him  ;  and  not  the  opin 
ions  of  Sabellius,  Alexander,  Hosius,  or  Constantine.  As 
for  mine  own  philosophical  opinions  concerning  Deity, 
I  never  learned  them  of  Plato,  nor  of  Philo,  nor  of  Sa- 


"I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR  BUT  CHRIST."         345 

bellius,  but  of  the  most  wise  and  pious  Am-nem-hat,  who 
was  for  many  years  high-priest  of  the  pagan  temple  at 
Ombos,  holding  there  the  same  position  which  the  Em 
peror  Constantine  as  Pontifex  Maximus  hath  so  long 
held  at  Rome ;  but  Am-nem-hat  was  afterward  a  glori 
ous  Christian,  and  a  holy  martyr,  at  our  city  of  Alexaa 
dria,  as  many  of  you  know.  But  no  man  hath  ever  heard 
me  claim  that  these  philosophical  opinions  constituted 
any  rule  of  faith  or  practice,  or  were  binding  upon  any 
man's  conscience ;  although  I  doubt  not  that  the  theo 
logical  opinions  of  a  most  ancient  and  learned  Egyptian 
high-priest  are  entitled  to  as  much  respect  as  those  of 
the  flamen  of  Jupiter,  at  Rome,  who  is  now  the  Emperor 
Constantine." 

And  again  the  old  heretic  resumed  his  seat,  having 
created  a  strong  impression  in  his  favor  in  the  minds  of  all 
who  were  not  committed  to  the  task  of  destroying  him, 
although  many  of  them  trembled  for  his  safety  on  hearing 
his  bold  and  ingenious  assault  upon  the  emperor.  But 
Marcellus,  Bishop  of  Ancyra,  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  in 
loud  and  threatening  tones  cried  out :  "  0  thou  most  in 
solent  and  abusive  heretic,  darest  thou  to  call  the  most 
Christian  emperor  a  pagan  ?  " 

But  Maris,  Bishop  of  Chalcedon,  stretched  forth  his 
hand  and  answered  :  "  The  presbyter  Arius  hath  said  that 
the  great  emperor  is  yet  unbaptized,  and  that  he  is,  by  the 
law  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Pontifex  Maximus,  and  flamen 
)f  Jupiter  !  I  understand  that  all  this  is  true  ;  and,  if  it  be 
lot  true,  no  man  will  more  rejoice  than  I  would  to  hear 
-he  emperor  now  declare  that  he  hath  been  baptized  into 


346  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

the  faith  of  Christ,  and  that  he  is  no  longer  high-priest  of 
pagan  Rome." 

The  bishop  sat  down,  and  every  eye  was  at  once  turned 
upon  Constantine.  But  the  emperor  neither  spake  nor 
moved ;  and  almost  immediately  his  partisans  began  to 
cry  out  that  Arius  should  declare  to  the  council  what  were 
those  philosophical  opinions  to  which  he  referred,  which 
thing  they  did  to  cover  up  the  failure  of  the  emperor  to 
respond  to  Maris  the  bishop ;  and  the  friends  of  the  Lib 
yan  joined  in  the  same  cry,  because  they  did  believe  that 
the  philosophy  of  Arius  would  be  found  to  be  correct,  and 
not  heretical.  And  thereupon,  being  pressed  upon  all 
sides  at  once,  the  presbyter  again  arose  and  spoke  in  the 
following  manner  :  "  I  suppose,  brethren,  that  there  hath 
never  been  any  difficulty  in  the  mind  of  any  Christian  as 
to  the  simple  declarations  of  the  gospel  concerning  our 
Lord ;  and  that  the  faith  of  all  Christians  in  the  divinity 
of  our  common  Saviour  is  founded  upon  the  gospel  narra 
tive.  The  difficulties  arise  only  when  the  mind  passes  on 
beyond  the  plain  teachings  of  the  gospel,  and  attempts  to 
comprehend  how  these  things  may  be,  and  to  formulate 
for  itself  some  creed  upon  the  nature  of  the  Deity.  In 
this  regard  there  have  been  maintained  three  great  philo 
sophical  opinions,  as  ye  do  know,  which  may  be  very 
briefly  stated  as  follows  : 

"  1.  That  the  Son  of  God  must  be  a  dependent  and 
spontaneous  being,  created  from  nothing  by  the  will  of 
the  Father,  by  whom  also  all  things  were  made. 

"  2.  That  the  Son  possessed  all  of  the  inherent,  in 
communicable  perfections  which  religion  and  philosophy 


"I   HAVE   NO   SUPERIOR  BUT   CHRIST."         347 

appropriate  to  the  supreme  God.  So  that  there  are  in  the 
Godhead  three  distinct  and  infinite  minds  or  substances, 
three  co-equal  and  co-eternal  beings,  composing  the  divine 
essence,  three  independent  Deities  as  to  whom  an  effort  is 
made  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  first  cause  by  assuming 
the  perpetual  concord  of  their  administration,  the  essential 
agreement  of  their  will ;  and  this  I  understand  to  be  the 
philosophy  of  Hosius,  Alexander,  the  emperor,  and  others 
for  whom  Athanasius  is  spokesman. 

"  3.  Three  beings  who,  by  the  self -derived  necessity  of 
their  existence,  possess  divine  attributes  in  perfect  degree, 
who  are  eternal  in  duration,  infinite  in  space,  intimately 
present  to  each  other  and  to  the  universe  ;  and  are  yet  one 
and  the  same  being,  manifesting  himself  in  different  forms, 
and  considered  in  different  aspects  :  so  that  the  Trinity 
becomes  a  trinity  of  names  and  abstract  manifestations  ex 
isting  only  in  the  mind ;  they  are  not  persons  at  all,  but 
only  attributes. 

"  This  is  the  heresy  of  Sabellius,  which  Christian  coun 
cils  have  condemned.  It  differeth  from  Athanasius  in  de 
gree,  but  not,  I  think,  in  kind. 

"Not  one  of  these  three  opinions  satisfieth  my  mind 
and  heart.  The  martyr  Am-nem-hat  taught  me  when  I  was 
a  boy  that  the  original  faith,  which  long  ages  ago  preceded 
the  polytheism  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  India,  China,  Greece, 
Rome,  and  all  other  heathen  nations,  uniformly  repre 
sented  the  one  God  to  be  a  dual,  spiritual  Being,  and  that 
the  Divine  nature  must  be  a  Triad,  or  Trinity,  completed 
by  the  birth  of  a  son  of  this  double-natured  spiritual  God. 
In  the  gospels  I  read  that  Christ  is  'the  only-begotten 


348  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

Son  of  God ' :  a  Father  begets.  He  was  '  conceived  '  of  the 
Holy  Ghost :  a  Mother  conceives.  He  was  '  born '  of  a 
virgin,  and  for  our  salvation  did  live  among  men.  The 
same  holy  martyr  called  my  attention  to  the  fact,  which  I 
have  since  carefully  verified,  that  while  the  Scriptures  in 
no  place  apply  the  word  '  mother '  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
words  'Holy  Ghost'  are  used  in  them  two  hundred  and 
twelve  times,  and  were  uniformly  in  the  Greek  neuter 
gender,  which  amrmeth  nothing  as  to  sex.  He  also  showed 
me  that  Moses  called  the  one  God  by  a  name  which  is  the 
plural  number  of  a  Hebrew  noun.  It  hath,  therefore, 
appeared  to  me  to  be  true  that,  as  far  as  anything  con 
cerning  Deity  can  be  expressed  in  human  language,  the 
sacred  use  of  the  words  'Father,'  'Son,'  'Holy  Ghost,' 
'begotten,'  'conceived,'  were  intended  to  convey  to  our 
minds  the  idea  that  in  some  spiritual  sense  of  sexhood  the 
nature  of  Deity  is  that  in  the  likeness  and  image  whereof 
man  was  created ;  and  signify  a  divine  family,  so  far  as 
earthly  things  can  typify  spiritual  truth.  Hence,  as  I  did 
set  forth  in  my  letter  to  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  and  to 
Alexander  of  Alexandria,  as  the  Church  knoweth,  I  have 
always  taught  that  the  Son  is  not  unoriginate,  nor  part  of 
the  unoriginate,  nor  made  of  things  previously  existing ; 
but  that  by  the  will  and  purpose  of  God  he  was  in  being 
before  time,  perfectly  divine,  the  only-begotten ;  that 
before  his  generation  he  was  not ;  that  we  believe  in 
one  God  alone  without  birth,  alone  everlasting,  alone  un 
originate.  We  believe  that  God  gave  birth  to  the  only- 
begotten  Son,  before  eternal  periods,  making  the  divine 
family  a  Triad,  through  whom  he  made  these  periods  and 


"I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR  BUT  CHRIST."         349 

all  else  that  was  made  ;  that  he  gave  birth  to  the  Son,  not 
in  semblance,  not  in  idea,  but  in  truth  giving  unto  him 
a  real  existence  ;  and  we  have  refused  to  profess  faith 
in  the  teachings  of  Bishop  Alexander,  that  'as  God  is 
eternal,  so  is  his  Son ' ;  '  where  the  Father,  there  the 
Son ' ;  '  the  Son  is  present  in  God  without  birth ' ;  *  ever- 
begotten  ' ;  ' an  Eternal  God,  an  Eternal  Son ' ;  'the  Son 
is  your  God  himself.' 

"  But  I  have  never  taught  this  philosophy  as  an  arti 
cle  of  faith,  binding  upon  the  conscience  of  believers  ;  and 
have  required  of  them  to  profess  faith  in  nothing  except 
what  the  gospels  declare." 

The  philosophy  of  Arius  struck  many  as  a  novel  thing. 
To  some  of  them  it  seemed  to  be  a  rational  and  beautiful 
solution  of  problems  which  they  had  pondered  long  and 
regarded  as  insoluble,  and  had  abandoned  in  despair. 
To  none  of  them  did  it  seem  to  be  at  all  tainted  with 
heresy. 

But  Athanasius  had  a  definite  end  in  view,  which 
closed  his  ears  to  any  statement  the  presbyter  might  make, 
although  he  waited  courteously  until  Arius  had  concluded 
his  remarks,  and  then  exclaimed,  "Hast  thou  not  taught 
that  the  Son  of  God  was  created  out  of  things  not  ex 
isting?" 

"Never,"  said  Arius.  "Thou  knowest  I  have  taught 
that  he  was  not  '  created '  at  all,  but  '  begotten ' ;  '  con 
ceived/  not  made." 

"Hast  thou  not  taught  that  there  was  a  time  when 
the  Son  was  not  ? " 

"  Nay,  verily  !     The   word   '  time '  is  thine  own,  not 
23 


350  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

mine.  But  I  have  said  'God  was,  when  he  was  not.'  I 
have  said  that  '  before  he  was  begotten  he  was  not. ' 
Else  how  could  God  beget  him  ?  But  this  was  in  the 
beginning,  before  'time'  was." 

"Hast  thou  not  taught  that  the  Father  was  superior 
to  the  Son,  and  the  Son  inferior  to  the  Father  ? " 

''Nay,  verily!  I  can  not  conceive  of  the  words  'su 
perior'  and  'inferior'  as  applicable  to  the  divine  nature, 
or  family,  any  more  than  I  can  conceive  of  thy  word 
'time'  as  applied  to  the  divine  existence.  If  thou 
canst  do  so,  0  Athanasius,  thou  or  thy  friends,  and  fur 
nish  a  definition  of  the  Trinity  that  does  not  deny  the 
separate  existence  of  the  Son ;  nor  imply  identity  of  per 
son  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  or  which  does  not 
set  up  three  distinct,  co-equal  Gods,  or  which  does  not 
degrade  the  Son  to  the  condition  of  a  created  Being, 
made,  not  begotten,  except  the  definition  which  I  quoted 
from  the  philosophy  of  Am-nem-hat  the  martyr,  and  have 
adopted  as  mine  own,  announce  thou  now,  or  when  thou 
wilt,  such  a  definition  of  the  Trinity,  and,  if  I  can  at 
all  comprehend  it,  I  will  follow  thee  to  death,  if  need 
be,  in  defense  thereof  :  for  lo  !  these  many  years  have  I 
sought  for  such  a  definition  and  found  it  not,  except  in 
Am-nem-hat's  profound  aphorism  that  the  true  and  only 
idea  of  Trinity  subsisteth  in  family — Father,  Mother,  Son  : 
the  Father-Ghost,  and  Christ !  " 

Then  answered  Athanasius  :  "  Verily  1  would  not  dare 
to  utter  a  formula  of  faith  upon  so  high  a  theme  in  any 
hasty  or  inconsiderate  manner.  So  for  the  present  let 
that  question  rest,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  learned  bish- 


"I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR  BUT  CHRIST."         351 

ops  who  defend  the  deity  of  Christ  will  soon  frame  out 
of  the  Scriptures  a  definition  of  the  Catholic  faith  which 
shall  both  satisfy  all  orthodox  souls  and  bring  thine  own 
God-dishonoring  heresies  to  light." 

"If  it  come  out  of  the  Scriptures,  friend  Athanasius, 
they  must  omit  therefrom  thy  newly-coined  word  '  Catho 
lic,'  for  that  word  is  not  scriptural,  nor  is  the  idea  which 
thou  signifiest  by  it  therein.  The  Scriptures  speak  not 
of  the  'Catholic'  Church  at  all,  but  of  'the  common 
church,'  'the  common  faith,'  'the  common  salvation,' 
'the  common  hope,'  'the  common  Saviour';  and  thou 
well  knowest  that  '  common '  pertaineth  only  to  the  com 
mon  or  communal  organization  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Yet, 
perhaps,  it  is  natural  that  one  so  young,  so  beautiful,  so 
gifted  as  thou  art,  should  prefer  the  imperial  and  aris 
tocratic  designation  which  hath  been  recently  adopted  in 
the  Western  Empire,  and  despise  the  plebeian,  scriptural 
name  'common'  or  'communal.'  For  two  Christians 
might  both  belong  to  thy  'Catholic'  Church,  while  one 
of  them  might  be  a  prince  and  the  other  a  pauper  ;  but 
the  two  Christians  who  belong  to  the  primitive  'com 
mon  '  church  must  be  brethren,  equal,  free,  fraternal ; 
and  the  difference,  friend  Athanasius,  between  '  common ' 
(KOIVO$ )  and  '  catholic '  (Kara  6Aof)  is  just  the  difference 
between  the  Christian  Church  and  that  of  Constantino. 
I  know  not  what  the  martyrs  would  have  said  of  it,  nor 
what  the  steadfast  confessors  here  present  may  think  of 
it;  but  I  prefer  the  ancient,  scriptural  term  'common,' 
'communal,'  'communistic'  church  of  which  Jesus  Christ 
only  is  King,  and  in  which  all  men  are  brethren,  to  the 


352  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

new  '  Catholic '  establishment  which  has  come  in  with  oui 
unbaptized  emperor." 

There  was  not  a  confessor  present  but  what  would 
have  applauded  these  bold  and  truthful  sentiments,  the 
force  of  which  we  can  at  this  day  with  difficulty  realize  ; 
but  Constantine  bit  his  lip  to  restrain  a  terrible  oath, 
and  his  face  darkened  ominously  as  he  glared  upon  the 
audacious  presbyter.  Hosius,  Marcellus,  Alexander,  and 
others  of  the  same  party,  seemed  to  have  been  stricken 
dumb  by  the  clear,  incisive,  fearless,  and  uncompromis 
ing  declarations  of  Arius.  Only  Athanasius  seemed  to 
preserve  his  marvelous  self-possession,  and  laughed  musi 
cally,  while,  in  order  to  distract  attention  from  the  dan 
gerous  question  which  the  old  heretic  seemed  determined 
to  bring  up  at  every  possible  turn  of  the  discussion,  he 
cried  aloud :  "  But  hast  thou  not  commonly  taught  that 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  three,  and  not  one 
God,  and  thereby  made  thy  heresy  assume  the  complexion 
of  polytheism  ?  Hast  thou  not  done  that  ? " 

"  I  have  taught,"  answered  Arius,  "  and  I  think  that 
the  Scriptures  teach,  that  the  three  are  not  one  person, 
but  three  persons ;  and  that  the  Trinity  is  one  family,  in 
likeness  whereof  man  was  created.  Eve,  the  first  mother, 
was  not  created  out  of  things  not  existing,  but  she  pro 
ceeded  out  of  the  first  man's  side  ;  not  above  him,  not 
below  him — equal  with  him,  bone  of  his  bone,  flesh  of  his 
flesh ;  and  the  first  human  son  was  born  of  them.  This 
to  my  mind  in  some  way  typifies  the  divine  family,  except 
that  the  idea  of  creation  applies  not  to  it.  This  I  have 
stated  as  mine  own  conception  of  the  matter,  not  as  an 


"I  HAVE  NO   SUPERIOR   BUT   CHRIST."          353 

article  of  faith.  If  thou  knowest  any  better  idea,  state  it 
plainly,  I  pray  thee  :  I  am  not  yet  too  old  to  learn." 

Then  said  Athanasius,  triumphantly,  "  I  supposed, 
indeed,  that  God  would  presently  lay  bare  thy  heresy  ;  for 
thou  dost  deny  the  express  words  of  Scripture  that  these 
three  are  one ;  and  thus  thou  art  convicted  ! " 

Once  more  the  dangerous  light  gleamed  in  the  old 
man's  somber  eyes,  and  that  nervous  twitching,  which  his 
enemies  likened  to  the  wriggling  of  a  serpent,  passed  over 
him ;  but  he  controlled  himself  wonderfully,  and  calmly 
enough  inquired  :  "  What  scripture,  then  ?  Wilt  thou 
read  it ;  or  tell  us  in  what  place  it  may  be  found  ?  " 

Then  said  Athanasius  :  "  I  read  from  the  first  letter 
of  John  as  follows  :  '  For  there  are  three  that  bear  record 
in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost : 
and  these  three  are  one.  And  there  are  three  that  bear  wit 
ness  in  earth,  the  spirit,  and  the  water,  and  the  blood :  and 
these  three  agree  in  one.'  How,  then,  sayest  thou  that  the 
Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  not  one,  in  the 
very  teeth  of  the  Scriptures,  0  thou  subtle  heretic  ? " 

The  reading  of  this  scripture  produced  a  profound 
sensation  in  the  council.  Many  turned  to  their  cppy  of 
John's  letter  to  read  the  words  for  themselves,  the  greater 
number  using  the  new  and  beautiful  manuscripts  which 
the  munificent  liberality  of  the  emperor  had  caused  to  be 
transcribed  and  distributed  among  the  bishops  some  time 
before ;  but  many  also  had  ancient  copies  written  in  the 
uncial  text.  But  Arius  said  unto  Athanasius,  "  Wilt  thou 
give  to  me  thy  book?" 

And  Athanasius  sent  it  to  him  by  one  of  the  pages  in 


354  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

attendance.  The  grim  old  presbyter  received  the  parch 
ment,  and  looked  at  it,  and  handled  it,  and  turned  it  over 
and  over  in  his  hands  with  a  strange,  sarcastic  smile,  and 
then  said  in  that  peculiar,  sibilant  tone  which  cut  and 
tingled  like  a  serpent's  hiss  :  "  I  perceive,  brethren,  that 
this  beautiful  manuscript  is  one  of  those  copies  which  hath 
been  supplied  to  many  bishops  and  presbyters  by  the  zeal 
and  benevolence  of  our  most  Christian,  but  unbaptized, 
emperor ;  and  the  book  is  beautifully  written  in  the  new, 
running  Greek  text  which  hath  lately  come  into  use.  I 
have  but  one  objection  to  it,  brethren  ;  and  the  objection 
is,  that  the  words  '  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost :  and  these  three  are  one.  And  there  are 
three  that  bear  witness  in  earth' — these  words  were  never 
written  by  John,  but  by  some  one  else ;  they  have  been 
added  to  the  text  within  the  last  ten  years  ! "  And  then 
the  tall  form  reared  itself  to  the  full  height  of  its  gigantic 
stature  ;  the  long,  thin  right  hand  swayed  to  and  fro  with 
a  strange  rhythmic  motion,  the  huge,  rough,  noble  head 
seemed  to  start  forward  upon  the  long,  bony  neck,  as  a 
cobra  thrusts  it  forward ;  the  strange,  mesmeric  light 
burned  in  the  somber  eyes,  and,  fastening  his  gaze  full 
upon  the  emperor,  he  cried  out  in  tones  that  rang  through 
every  corner  and  crevice  of  the  vast  hall,  shrill,  incisive, 
penetrating:  "These  words  are  forgeries — every  one  of 
them  !  What  John  wrote  was  this :  'For  there  are  three 
that  bear  record,  the  spirit,  the  water,  and  the  blood :  and 
these  three  agree  in  one. ' ' 

The  effect  was  electrical.     Many  trembled  for  the  bold 
and  eloquent  man  whose  words  and   manner  seemed  to 


"I  HAVE  NO  SUPERIOR   BUT  CHRIST."         355 

charge  upon  the  emperor  himself  the  guilt  of  sacrilege  in 
forging  the  sacred  writings ;  although,  perhaps,  none 
doubted  that  the  words  were  forged.  But  Athanasius 
gazed  upon  him  haughtily,  and  demanded:  "Who  art 
thou,  madman,  that  dost  so  boldly  assail  the  genuineness 
of  a  scripture  that  suiteth  not  with  thy  notorious  heresy  ? 
How  knowest  thou  that  the  words  were  never  written  by 
John  ?  " 

The  presbyter's  fierce  excitement  had  almost  immedi 
ately  faded  away,  and  he  quietly  answered  :  "  Brethren,  I 
know  that  the  words  are  forgeries,  because  the  rank  Sabel- 
lianism  which  they  teach  is  contrary  to  John's  spirit,  and 
would  better  suit  the  views  of  certain  persons  who  desire 
to  confound  the  Son  with  the  Father  in  order  to  abolish 
the  sovereignty  of  Christ  over  his  earthly  kingdom  by 
placing  some  one  else  in  his  rightful  place.  Secondly, 
because  ye  can  not  find  the  words  in  any  copy  written 
in  the  uncial  text,  before  the  recent,  running  Greek  text 
came  into  common  use.  Ye  have  many  uncial  copies 
here  :  see  whether  any  of  them  contain  the  words.  Third 
ly,  because,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  the  learned 
martyr  Am-nem-hat,  in  our  city  of  Alexandria,  had  in 
his  possession  the  original  letter  of  John " ;  and,  with 
tremulous  and  mournful  cadence  that  brought  tears  into 
the  eyes  of  all  who  knew  his  history,  he  continued : 
"  Am-nem-hat  abode  in  the  house  of  his  great-grand- 
niece,  the  holy,  the  beautiful,  the  martyred  Theckla. 
This  blessed  virgin  did  carefully  copy  the  letter  upon 
vellum,  and  sent  it  to  Antioch  as  a  gift  even  unto  me, 
by  the  hands  of  Bishop  Peter."  Taking  the  book  from 


356  ARItfS  THE  LIBYAN. 

a  cedar  box  on  the  seat  beside  him,  he  continued : 
"  Here  is  the  copy  of  John's  letter,  written  by  the  hand 
of  one  martyr,  under  the  supervision  of  another,  and 
delivered  by  a  third  martyr  unto  me,  that  am  ready  to 
follow  them  upon  the  glorious  way  whenever  God  so  will ! 
Search  and  see  whether  ye  can  find  these  forged  words  in 
this  thrice-sacred  book  ! " 

A  moment  of  profound  silence  followed.  Constantino, 
Athanasius,  Hosius,  and  all  of  their  faction,  perceived  that 
this  assault  also  had  not  only  failed,  but  had  left  the 
powerful  heretic  in  full  possession  of  the  field  of  battle ; 
and,  at  a  sign  from  the  emperor,  the  bishops  immediately 
adjourned  the  council  until  the  following  day. 


CHAPTEK  X. 

THE  COMMUNION   OF  THE   SAINTS. 

As  soon  as  the  great  council  assembled  on  the  fol 
lowing  day,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  addressed  them,  saying  : 
"Brethren,  the  controversy  concerning  the  nature  of 
Deity  provoketh  much  uncharity,  and  leadeth  to  no  re 
sult.  I  have,  therefore,  drawn  up,  and  now  offer  for 
your  consideration,  a  Confession  of  Faith,  which  is  no 
new  form  of  doctrine,  but  is  the  same  which  I  learned 
in  my  childhood,  and  during  the  time  I  was  a  cate 
chumen,  and  at  the  time  I  was  baptized,  from  my  pred 
ecessors  in  the  bishopric  of  Nicomedia ;  and  the  same 
which  I  have  taught  for  many  years  while  I  was  pres 
byter  and  bishop,  before  this  great  dispute  had  arisen. 
This  confession  hath  been  read  and  approved  by  the  em 
peror,  the  beloved  of  Heaven,  and  it  seemeth  to  me  to 
be  the  truth  as  nearly  as  divine  things  can  be  expressed 
in  human  language.  I  have  a  hope,  therefore,  that  it 
may  be  accepted  by  all  as  a  sufficient  declaration  of  our 
Christian  faith. 

"It  is  as  follows:  'I  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  all  things  both  visible  and  invisible, 
and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Word  of  God,  God 


358  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  God,  Light  of  Light,  Life  of  Life,  the  only-begotten 
Son,  the  first-born  of  every  creature ;  begotten  of  the 
Father  before  all  worlds,  by  whom,  also,  all  things  were 
made  ;  who  for  our  salvation  was  made  flesh  and  lived 
among  men,  and  suffered,  and  rose  again  on  the  third 
day,  and  ascended  to  the  Father,  and  shall  come  in 
glory  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  And  we  be 
lieve  in  one  Holy  Ghost.  As  also  our  Lord,  sending 
forth  his  own  disciples  to  preach,  said  :  '  Go  and  teach 
all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Concerning 
which  things  we  affirm  that  this  is  so,  and  that  we  think 
so,  and  that  it  hath  long  been  so  held ;  and  that  we 
remain  steadfast  to  death  for  this  faith,  anathematizing 
every  godless  heresy ;  that  we  have  taught  these  things 
from  our  heart  and  soul,  from  the  time  that  we  have 
known  ourselves ;  and  that  we  now  think  and  say  them 
in  truth,  we  testify  in  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  and 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  being  able  to  prove  even  by 
demonstration,  and  to  persuade  you  that  in  past  times 
also  this  we  believed  and  preached. ' " 

This  creed  seemed  to  be  acceptable  to  nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  council,  and  Hosius  said  unto  Arius, 
"  Wilt  thou  subscribe  this  creed  ? " 

And  the  heretic  answered  :  "  Certainly.  I  can  cheer 
fully  subscribe  to  all  that  is  contained  in  this  confession 
of  faith ;  for  Eusebius  hath  only  made  a  formal  state 
ment  of  what  I  have  taught  and  believed,  and  what  the 
ancient  Church  hath  held  from  the  beginning.  Yet  I 
like  not  the  creed.  For  the  bishops  all  know  that  while 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE   SAINTS.  359 

never  before  did  a  council  draw  up  any  written  con 
fession  of  faith,  yet  at  every  council  the  bishops  did 
repeat  and  affirm  the  creed  received  from  the  apostles ; 
and  the  most  important  item  therein,  next  to  the  pro 
fession  of  faith  in  Christ,  was  this  :  '  I  believe  in  the 
communion  of  saints ' ;  by  which  the  Church  constantly 
affirmed  its  faith  in  the  divine  wisdom  of  the  communal 
organization  of  '  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  Ye  have  mu 
tilated  the  confession  by  omitting  this  vital  article  in 
order  to  accommodate  the  faith  to  the  imperial  laws  re 
garding  war,  slavery,  and  mammon-worship.  Let  the 
great  article  be  restored  to  its  proper  place,  and  I  will 
subscribe  the  creed." 

Then  there  was  a  terrible  clamor,  greater  than  all 
that  had  preceded  it — the  partisans  of  Constantino  bold 
ly  declaring  that  "  the  day  had  gone  by  forever  for 
maintaining  the  communal  organization  of  the  Church  " ; 
that  this  "primitive  community  of  rights  and  property 
was  only  a  temporary  arrangement,  not  designed  to  be 
permanent,  and  had  faded  away " ;  and,  finally,  that 
"the  emperor  would  not  permit  the  creed  to  contain  an 
article  which  cut  off  not  only  the  emperor  and  all  his 
officers,  but  also  every  'rich  man,'  from  admission  to 
the  Church."  But  those  who  were  determined  to  main 
tain  the  apostolic  organization  which  Jesus  himself  had 
ordained  were  equally  clamorous  in  shouting  that  to 
omit  the  article  of  "  communion  of  the  saints "  was  to 
adopt  the  Roman  law,  and  betray  the  Church  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemies  of  Jesus.  Then  Constantine  or 
dered  in  the  imperial  guards  and  commanded  them  to 


360  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

clear  the  hall,  and  the  bishops  adjourned  the  council  in 
the  midst  of  an  uproar  in  which  the  struggle  was  not 
always  confined  to  words,  but  some  severe  blows  were 
given  and  received  upon  both  sides.  The  voice  of  the 
bishops  adjourning  the  council  had  failed  to  designate 
any  day  or  hour  at  which  it  should  reassemble,  and  for 
some  days  no  session  at  all  was  held ;  and  during  these 
days  all  the  weight  of  the  imperial  authority  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  unhappy  bishops  to  force  them  to  adopt 
a  creed  omitting  the  article  concerning  "the  communion 
of  saints"  which  from  the  very  days  of  Jesus  had  been 
the  sacred  symbol  of  the  social  and  political  organization 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Constantine  declared  that  bish 
ops  who  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  do  so  might 
continue  to  teach  and  to  preach  it,  but  that  the  article 
must  be  omitted  from  the  creed ;  and  gradually  all  of  them 
were  brought  over  to  the  making  of  this  kind  of  a  com 
promise  with  their  consciences.  When  this  result  had 
been  attained,  the  bishops  gave  out  that  the  council  would 
be  reassembled  upon  the  following  day. 

On  that  evening,  Constantine  called  unto  him  Hosius, 
Alexander,  Athanasius,  and  others  of  his  adherents,  and 
said  unto  them  :  "  It  is  not  expedient  for  me  that  Arius, 
or  any  other  man,  should  be  condemned  for  refusing  to 
subscribe  a  confession  of  faith  that  omits  the  article  con 
cerning  community  of  the  saints.  I  wish  that  thing  to 
be  forgotten  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  the  condem 
nation  of  this  man  should  be  founded  upon  some  other 
accusation.  I  desire  ye,  therefore,  to  seek  for  some  scrip 
tural  word  or  other  which  may  not  be  repugnant  to  the 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  SAINTS.  361 

majority  of  the  council,  but  which  Arius  can  not  sub 
scribe.  He  is  a  man  that  would  manifestly  die  and  count 
it  great  gain  rather  than  make  even  the  slightest  con 
cession  in  any  matter  of  conscience.  Ye  must,  there 
fore,  insert  in  the  creed  some  word  or  phrase  that  h« 
will  not  subscribe,  but  to  which  the  majority  shall  not 
make  any  strenuous  objection.  It  must  not  appear  to 
the  Church  that  'the  communion  of  saints'  hath  caused 
trouble." 

"  There  is  no  such  word  or  expression  in  any  gospel," 
answered  Hosius,  sententiously. 

"  Then  ye  must  seek  for  it  elsewhere,"  said  Constan- 
tine.  "  The  creed  must  contain  some  word  which  he  will 
refuse  to  subscribe,  and  it  must  appear  that  the  contro 
versy  with  him  is  concerning  that  word,  and  not  concern 
ing  the  abandonment  of  the  primitive  Church  polity." 

"  There  is  a  word  that  hath  lately  come  into  use  at 
Alexandria,"  said  Athanasius,  "  which  I  feel  certain  would 
prevent  the  presbyter  from  signing  any  creed  that  con 
tains  it,  but  I  do  not  think  that  either  the  Latin  lan 
guage  or  the  Latin  brain  is  delicate  enough  to  grasp 
that  peculiar  signification  of  the  Greek  expression  which 
would  make  it  repugnant  to  Arius,  so  that  the  Western 
churchmen  would  not  object  to  the  use  of  it,  but  it  is 
not  exactly  a  scriptural  phrase." 

"What  is  the  word?"  asked  the  emperor. 

"  It  is  the  new  compound,  '  consubstantial '  (fyioovatoc), 
which  admitteth  of  an  interpretation  that  would  shock  the 
fine  Egyptian  thought  of  the  presbyter,  but  many  might 
not  be  subtile  enough  to  perceive  it.  It  suiteth  well  the 


362  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

majority  of  the  bishops  in  the  sense  in  which  they  un 
derstand  it." 

"I  do  well  remember  the  word,"  said  Constantine. 
"For,  when  I  was  upon  the  study  of  this  controversy, 
I  first  heard  it ;  and  it  occurreth  either  in  some  memo 
randa  which  I  made  of  a  conversation  with  Eusebius,  or 
in  a  letter  written  unto  him  by  his  brother  of  Nicomedia. 
Let  me  get  those  papers." 

So  saying,  the  emperor  opened  a  drawer  in  his  bureau 
and  took  therefrom  a  bundle  of  manuscript,  and  after  a 
short  examination  he  said  :  "  Here  is  the  letter.  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia  saith  here  that  'to  assert  the  Son  of  God 
to  be  of  one  substance  with  the  Father  is  a  proposition 
evidently  absurd.' " 

The  beautiful  eyes  of  Athanasius  sparkled  with  delight, 
and  he  cried  out  :  "  That  is  the  very  word  and  letter 
that  we  want !  It  cometh,  like  all  good  things,  from  the 
emperor,  and  is  like  an  inspiration  to  our  cause  ! " 

"Yea,"  said  Hosius.  "The  majority  will  receive  the 
word  well — holding  that  it  does  not  necessarily  imply  the 
identity  of  persons ;  but  will  Arius  certainly  reject  it  ? " 

"Yea,"  replied  Athanasius;  "I  have  heard  his  com 
ments  on  the  word,  and  I  am  certain  that  his  stubborn 
inflexible  spirit  will  not  bend  enough  to  make  him  sub 
scribe  a  creed  containing  it." 

"Press  thou  not  the  matter  too  vehemently,  arch 
deacon,"  said  Constantine,  "lest  thou  drive  many  to  sup 
port  him.  Be  mild  and  persuasive,  for  there  is  time 
enough." 

So,  when  the  council  had  assembled  on  the  following 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  SAINTS.  363 

day,  Athanasius  said :  "  The  learned  and  venerable  Bish 
ops  Alexander  and  Hosius,  and  many  others  with  them, 
have  carefully  examined  the  form  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith  offered  by  the  learned  Bishop  Eusebius,  and  they 
make  no  objection  thereto  :  but  fear  that  it  may  leave 
open  some  advantages  for  entrance  of  heresy,  as  is 
shown  by  this  letter  of  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  wherein 
he  declareth  that  to  say  that  the  Son  is  cpnsubstantial 
(6/Aoovo-ios)  with  the  Father  is  absurd.  They  therefore 
desire,  in  order  to  cut  off  all  heretical  interpretation  of 
the  creed,  and  vindicate  the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  to 
offer  a  creed  containing  the  declaration  that  Son  and 
Father  are  of  one  substance." 

Immediately  there  was  a  clamor  of  the  Arians  against 
the  use  of  the  word;  but  they,  and  many  who  were  un 
decided,  looked  to  Arius  for  advice  and  direction,  and 
Athanasius  said,  "The  bishops"  desire  to  know  whether 
the  learned  presbyter  Arius  will  subscribe  the  creed  con 
taining  this  word,  the  bulwark  against  all  heresy  ? " 

And  Arius  arose,  and,  looking  upon  Athanasius  with 
a  gentle  smile,  said  unto  him  :  "I  perceive  that  thy 
master  Constantine  hath  at  last  reached  the  fulfillment 
of  his  desires  against  the  Church  and  kingdom  of  my 
master  Christ.  Brethren,  I  have  already  declared  to  you 
that  I  would  subscribe  no  confession  of  faith  which 
omitted  to  set  forth  the  article  of  the  communion  of 
saints  ;  and  I  perceive  well  that  the  insertion  of  this 
new  ecclesiastical  term  is  resorted  to  only  in  order  to 
avoid  making  notorious  the  fact  that  the  emperor  hath 
commanded  that  the  primitive  organization  of  the  Church 


364  AEIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

shall  be  abandoned.  As  to  this  word  'consubstantial,'  I 
have  no  objection  to  it  in  the  only  sense  in  which  I  can 
conscientiously  use  it,  as  implying  that  the  Father  and 
Son  (like  every  other  father  and  son)  are  beings  of  the 
same  nature ;  yet  I  would  not  subscribe  a  creed  contain 
ing  this  word,  because  it  is  unscriptural.  In  the  sense 
in  which  it  will  come  to  be  used  hereafter  (if  not,  indeed, 
already),  it  denies  the  separate  existence  of  the  Son  ;  it 
will  imply  an  almost  physical  adhesion  of  the  persons  of 
the  Divine  Family,  and  the  actual  identity  of  Father  and 
Son.  It  hath  before  this  time  been  used  by  incautious 
or  heretical  persons,  and  hath  already  been  condemned 
as  heretical  by  councils  which  no  prince  or  emperor 
controlled,  and  whose  voice  was  the  free  utterance  of  the 
unsecularized  but  persecuted  Church.  I  will  never  sub 
scribe  a  creed  containing  such  a  word ;  and  have  never 
found  it  necessary  to  go  outside  of  the  Scriptures  to  find 
words  wherewith  to  define  the  Christian  faith." 

And  Athanasius  answered  :  "  What  if  the  word,  in  the 
exact  form  of  it,  is  not  in  the  Scriptures  ?  Surely  its  de 
rivatives  and  compounds  are  found  therein  ;  nor  is  it  any 
more  unscriptural  than  the  songs  of  Arius  written  in  his 
book  'Thalia.'  What  if  it  hath  been  used  by  heretics  and 
condemned  as  heretical  ?  That  was  only  because  it  hath 
been  used  in  some  heretical  sense,  and  not  as  we  use  it 
now.  What  if  the  use  of  the  word  might  be  tortured  into 
the  support  of  Sabellianism  by  some  who  wrest  even  the 
Scriptures  to  their  own  destruction  ?  The  rejection  of  it 
argues  far  more  strongly  in  favor  of  polytheism — the  an 
cient  paganism  from  which  the  Church  hath  so  long  suf- 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  SAINTS.  365 

fered ;  and  the  word  must  be  used,  because  it  is  the  only 
safeguard  against  the  very  heresy  of  which  Arius  hath 
been  suspected  or  accused." 

And  the  question  was  long  debated  by  others,  and  the 
council  adjourned  ;  but  there  were  not  many  that  stood 
out  firmly  against  the  use  of  this  celebrated  word. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  council,  Hosius  of  Cordova 
announced  that,  following  the  sentiments  of  the  great  ma 
jority,  they  had  prepared  another  declaration  of  the  faith, 
upon  which  he  hoped  all  might  agree  ;  and  thereupon  the 
same  was  read :  "  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  all  things,  both  visible  and  invisible. 
And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  begotten 
of  the  Father,  only  begotten,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  sub 
stance  of  the  Father,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God 
of  very  God,  begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  both 
things  in  heaven  and  things  in  earth ;  who  for  us  men 
and  for  our  salvation  came  down  and  was  made  man, 
suffered,  and  rose  again  on  the  third  day ;  went  up  into 
the  heavens,  and  is  to  come  again  to  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead.  And  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"But  those  who  say,  '  There  was  when  he  was  not,1  and 
'  Before  he  was  begotten  he  was  not,'  and  that  '  He  came 
into  existence  from  what  was  not,'  or  who  profess  that  the 
Son  of  God  is  a  different  'person'  or  'substance,'  or  that 
he  is  created,  or  changeable,  or  variable,  are  anathematized 
by  the  Catholic  Church." 

A  great  many  members  refused  to  sign  the  creed,  and 

especially  the  anathema  with  which  it  concluded  ;  because 
24 


366  AKIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

they  thought  that  the  presbyter  Arius,  at  whom  it  was 
aimed,  neither  taught  nor  held  the  views  thereby  imputed 
to  him.  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  asked  for  time  to  consider 
the  matter,  and  "  to  consult  with  the  emperor  who  had 
imposed  it  upon  them" — a  course  which  others  also  fol 
lowed. 

Constantine  professed  to  believe  that  this  last  creed 
was  delivered  by  an  inspiration  of  the  bishops  directly 
given  from  heaven ;  and  he  at  once  issued  a  decree  of 
banishment  against  all  who  might  refuse  to  subscribe  to  it. 
"  He  denounced  Arius  and  his  disciples  as  impious,  and 
ordered  that  he  and  his  books  should  follow  the  fate  of 
the  pagan  Porphyry ;  and  that  he  and  his  school  should 
be  called  Porphyrians,  and  his  books  burned  under  penalty 
of  death  to  any  one  who  perused  them."  But  he  gave 
them  time  to  reflect  upon  the  matter;  and  on  the  next 
day  many  stood  resolved  not  to  sign,  notwithstanding  the 
terrible  threats  of  the  emperor.  In  this  state  of  fear  and 
perplexity,  when  no  man  knew  to  what  extremities  his 
brutal  threats  to  extort  their  compliance  might  be  carried, 
and  when  a  moody  silence,  born  of  their  terror  and  dis 
tress,  had  settled  upon  the  council,  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
Arius  the  Libyan  arose  and  addressed  them  as  follows : 
"Brethren,  I  am  well  persuaded  that  no  other  opportu 
nity  will  ever  be  given  unto  me  to  address  any  assembly 
of  Christians  ;  being  persuaded  that  the  condemnation  de 
nounced  against  me  ariseth  not  from  any  mistaken  zeal 
on  the  part  of  the  unbaptized  emperor  concerning  reli 
gion,  but  only  from  a  political  necessity  that  springeth 
from  his  godless  and  insatiable  thirst  for  universal  and 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  SAINTS.  367 

unhindered  power ;  for  verily  I  think  he  knoweth  little, 
and  careth  less,  for  any  confession  of  faith,  except  as  it 
affecteth  his  imperial  ambition.  As  a  man,  therefore,  al 
ready  doomed,  and  soon,  perhaps,  to  die,  I  desire  to  stir 
up  your  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance  concerning 
the  primitive  Church,  which  now  fadeth  out  of  the  world, 
as  it  hath  already  faded  out  of  the  Western  Empire. 
Brethren,  centuries  ago,  the  great  Greek  philosopher, 
Plato,  in  his  '  Republic,'  did  declare  that  '  any  ordinary 
city  is  in  fact  two  cities,  one  the  city  of  the  rich,  the 
other  that  of  the  poor,  at  war  with  one  another ' ;  and  this 
statement  is  verily  true  everywhere  on  earth.  For  the 
religion  of  mankind  hath  been,  in  some  shape,  the  wor 
ship  of  mammon,  and  the  warfare,  of  which  Plato  speak- 
eth,  a  warfare  for  property — for  property  in  offices,  pre 
rogatives,  lands,  houses,  wealth,  slaves,  and  every  shape 
that  property  can  take.  Ye  know  that  the  law  was  a 
schoolmaster  to  lead  us  to  Christ ;  and  that,  to  prevent 
the  universal  and  hopeless  oppression  of  the  poor,  God  by 
Moses  did  ordain  the  statute  of  the  year  of  jubilee,  and 
the  statute  of  the  seventh  year;  and  ye  know  that  the 
prophet  Isaiah  did  make  these  statutes,  which  secured  a 
certain  blessing  for  the  poor  every  'seventh  year'  and 
every  'fiftieth  year,'  typical  of  the  continuous  state  of 
believers,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  declaring  it  to  be  the 
gospel  preached  to  the  poor ;  and  ye  know  that  our  Lord 
did  solemnly  declare  that  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in 
him,  wherefore  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  who  were  '  covetous,'  persecuted  him  even  unto 
death ;  even  as  the  ruling  classes  at  Rome,  and  through- 


368  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

out  the  world,  have  done  until  the  triumph  of  Constan- 
tine  over  Maxentius  at  the  Milvian  Bridge.  Ye  know 
that  our  Lord  set  up  a  kingdom  that  was  good  news,  a 
gospel,  to  the  poor  of  the  earth,  because  its  purpose  and 
effect  were  to  abolish  war,  slavery,  polygamy,  and  all  un 
just  distinctions  between  men  and  classes  of  men,  based 
upon  the  idolatry  of  mammon.  Ye  know  that  all  of 
these  parables  were  spoken  with  reference  to  this  king 
dom  in  which  communion  of  saints,  partnership  of  all 
believers,  should  secure  liberty,  equality,  fraternity,  for 
all  Christians.  Ye  know  that,  while  the  apostles  re 
mained  on  earth,  the  believers  had  all  things  common, 
except  wives  and  children,  disowned  all  government 
except  that  of  Jesus,  obeyed  all  laws  for  the  sake  of 
peace  except  such  as  conflicted  with  conscience,  and  so 
builded  up  the  Christian  communes  that  governed  them 
selves  by  the  laws  of  Christ  alone,  inflicting  no  temporal 
punishment  except  that  they  refused  to  fellowship  the  ob 
durately  wicked.  Ye  know  that  they  commonly  wrought 
miracles  to  prove  the  divinity  of  Jesus  and  the  right  of 
the  Church  to  preach  and  to  teach  in  his  name.  We 
learn  from  Philo  the  Egyptian,  and  from  many  others, 
that  'those  who  entered  upon  the  Christian  life  divested 
themselves  of  their  property,  and  gave  it  to  those  legally 
entitled  thereto  or  to  the  common  Church,'  and  that 
'  the  disciples  of  that  time,  animated  by  more  ardent  love 
of  the  divine  word,  first  fulfilled  the  Saviour's  precept  by 
distributing  their  substance  to  the  needy  ;  and  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  wrought  many  wonders  through  them,  so 
that,  as  soon  as  the  gospel  was  heard,  men  voluntarily 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  THE  SAINTS.  869 

and  in  crowds  eagerly  embraced  the  true  faith.'  Ye 
know  that  three  bishops  were  ordained  by  the  apostles, 
even  Lucius,  Evodius,  and  Polycarp,  all  of  whom  con 
secrated  their  property  to  the  common  Church,  as  did 
the  apostolical  fathers  Clemens,  Ignatius,  Barnabas,  Her- 
mas,  as  also  did  Paulinas,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  and  countless 
other  well-known  and  notable  Christians  ;  and  ye  know 
that  such  were  the  law  and  the  practice  of  the  Church  until 
very  recent  times  !  Ye  know  that  thaumaturgy  remained 
with  the  Church  until  this  divine  ordinance  was  neglect 
ed.  Ye  know,  brethren,  that  there  were  no  slaves,  no 
war,  no  rich,  no  poor,  no  kings,  no  rulers,  in  the  king 
dom  of  our  Lord,  but  liberty,  fraternity,  equality  for  all ; 
and  that  war,  slavery,  mammon-worship,  which  had  ever 
been  the  curse  of  human  life,  were  abolished  by  the  gos 
pel  of  Christ.  Brethren,  already  in  the  Western  Empire 
(and  from  this  day  in  the  East)  all  this  is  changed. 
'The  kingdom  of  heaven'  is  utterly  subverted.  Even 
the  bishops  came  hither  with  slaves ;  many  of  you  are 
*  rich  men,'  that  could  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  The  Church  conformeth  in  all  things  to  the 
imperial  laws  :  for  that  man  Constantine  hath  such 
unbounded  ambition  and  unbelief  that  he  suffereth  not 
the  Church  of  Christ  to  exist  in  the  world,  and  hath 
so  founded  the  Church  of  Constantine,  subverting  all  of 
Christianity  except  its  spiritual  truth.  But  ye  can  plain 
ly  see  what  things  shall  come  to  pass.  That  man  whom 
ye  love  because  it  hath  suited  the  purposes  of  his  atheis 
tic  ambition  to  protect  the  Church  against  other  tyrants, 
hath  established  an  imperial  legal  religion  for  the  world, 


370  ARIUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

and  declares  that  he  will  persecute  all  who  conform  not 
thereto.  So  did  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees ;  so  did  Tibe 
rius  Caesar,  Nero,  Diocletian,  and  the  rest  of  his  pred 
ecessors  ;  but  so  Jesus  and  his  apostles  never  did.  I 
know  not  whether  that  man  who  doeth  these  things, 
and  hath  begun  to  found  his  capital,  called  by  his  own 
name  of  blasphemy,  upon  seven  hills  above  the  sea,  be 
he  of  whom  John  in  the  Apocalypse  did  speak,  but  he 
suiteth  well  in  many  respects  with  what  John  did  proph 
esy. 

"  Hear  me  yet  a  little  further.  Ye  will  all,  or  nearly 
all,  subscribe  this  creed  !  Ye  will  be  forced  so  to  do  ! 
For  the  Holy  Spirit  cometh  upon  no  council  of  an  earth 
ly  emperor,  but  only  of  Christ's  Church.  Henceforth, 
therefore,  thaumaturgy  shall  be  lost  unto  the  Church ! 
Henceforth,  therefore,  Christianity  shall  be  a  human  in 
stitution  !  And  the  faith  of  Christians  will  be  first  one 
thing,  then  another,  as  successive  emperors  may  deter 
mine  to  be  best.  Those  who  now  are  orthodox  will  be 
proscribed  as  heretics,  and  those  who  now  are  heretics 
will  be  called  orthodox  ;  and  Christian  emperors  will  seek 
to  exterminate  Christian  heretics  with  fire  and  sword 
throughout  the  world.  For  the  millions  of  Armenia, 
and  many  more  throughout  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Africa, 
and  the  whole  nation  of  the  Goths,  are  as  I  am — what 
ye  call  Arian.  So  is  the  brave,  the  successful,  the 
popular  Crispus  Caesar.  So  is  Ulfilas,  whom  Constantine 
calleth  the  Moses  of  the  Goths,  whom  he  now  proposes 
to  ordain  a  bishop  over  the  people  whom  he  converted, 
and  upon  whom  Constantine  made  war  to  force  them  to 


THE   COMMUNION   OF  THE   SAINTS.  371 

accommodate  their  religion  to  imperial  law.  So  is  Con- 
stantia,  the  sister  of  the  emperor,  the  widow  of  Licinius  ; 
and  so  is  the  young  Licinius,  her  son,  and  others  per 
haps  of  the  same  imperial  family,  concerning  whom  I  do 
not  know.  See  ye  not  that  when  Constantine  shall  die, 
and  his  sons  shall  succeed  to  empire,  the  faith  of  Christ 
which  is  now  condemned  shall  be  established  by  the 
imperial  law  as  true  ? — And  even  thou,  Athanasius,  next 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  mayst  find  thyself  a  fugitive  from 
thine  episcopal  palace  (which  the  emperor  shall  give  unto 
thee),  a  vagabond  upon  the  friendless  earth,  a  martyr  for, 
or  a  renegade  from,  what  thou  now  maintainest  to  be  true  ! 

"  Brethren,  I  go  hence  to  death,  or  banishment,  or 
both.  I  care  not  for  it.  For  I  live  in  the  steadfast  faith 
and  hope  that,  although  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  now 
subverted  by  the  man  of  sin,  yet  again  some  time,  some 
how,  somewhere,  it  shall  be  re-established  upon  the  foun 
dation  of  faith  and  communism  which  our  Lord  did  lay, 
and  shall  prevail ;  and  war,  slavery,  and  mammon-wor 
ship,  shall  all  cease  to  curse  the  world  ;  for  all  people  that 
love  liberty  and  hate  tryants  shall  be  Arians,  and  mankind 
shall  yet  realize  the  promise  of  our  Lord  which  he  con 
firmed  by  his  life,  by  his  miracles  and  parables,  and  by 
his  death  and  resurrection,  of  universal  liberty,  equality, 
and  faternity.  Brethren,  farewell !  and  the  peace  of  God 
be  with  you  !  " 

Then  the  gaunt,  sad,  immovable,  and  irreconcilable 
heretic  walked  calmly  out  of  the  hall.  During  the  ut 
terance  of  this  terrible  oration,  many  seemed  awed  by 
the  solemn  grandeur  and  prophetic  earnestness  of  the 


372  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

speaker ;  many  were  terrified  at  his  fearless  denunciation 
of  the  plans,  atheism,  and  hypocrisy  of  the  emperor ;  .and 
some  secretly  rejoiced  because  they  supposed  that  his  bold 
ness  irrevocably  sealed  his  doom.  Constantine  himself, 
convulsed  with  suppressed  wrath,  grew  pale  with  passion, 
and  bit  his  lips  to  restrain  some  indiscreet  expression  of 
his  jealousy,  doubt,  and  fear,  as  Arius  declared  the  num 
bers  and  strength  of  the  Arian  party  in  Armenia,  Egypt, 
Syria,  and  among  the  Goths,  and  eulogized  the  gallant 
Crispus  Caesar,  his  popular  and  splendid  son. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ONE  JOT   THAT   PASSED   FBOM   THE   LAW. 

ON  that  very  night  the  grand,  lonely,  immovable  pres 
byter  disappeared,  and  in  that  council  was  seen  no  more. 
But  the  next  day  came  the  emperor's  sister  Constantia, 
the  widow  of  Licinius,  and  Licinius,  her  son,  and  Crispus 
Caesar,  the  eldest  son  of  Constantine,  born  of  his  first  wife 
Minervina,  and  the  emperor's  mother,  Helena,  and  all, 
casting  themselves  at  the  feet  of  Constantine,  with  tears 
and  supplications  besought  him  that  the  great,  learned, 
and  holy  Arius  might  not  be  put  to  death.  And  they  so 
vehemently  urged  this  petition  that  Constantine  finally 
seemed  to  give  way  thereto,  and  promised,  confirming  his 
promise  with  an  awful  oath,  that  he  would  spare  the  life 
of  the  presbyter.  In  truth,  he  supposed  that  to  execute 
Arius  would  be  impolitic,  because  it  would  forever  alienate 
a  very  large  number  of  his  subjects,  and  he  wished  to  avoid 
it,  and  also  to  win  praises  for  his  clemency.  He  there 
fore  ordered  that  Arius  be  banished  to,  and  closely 
guarded  in,  a  strong  fortress  in  the  wildest  portion  of 
Illyricum,  until,  "in  the  opinion  of  the  emperor,  the 
Arians  of  Armenia,  Egypt,  and  Syria,  and  the  Goths, 
might  have  become  reconciled  unto  the  creed  of  Nicea." 


374:  ARIUS  THE   LIBYAN. 

Crispus  Caesar  boldly  declared  that  he  indorsed  the 
opinions  of  Arius,  and  regarded  the  great  heretic  with 
larger  love  and  reverence  than  any  other  man  had  ever 
gained  from  him  ;  and  the  emperor  heard  this  declaration 
with  gloom  and  hatred,  but  in  ominous  silence. 

And  one  by  one,  under  the  influence  of  the  threats  of 
Constantino,  who  still  held  the  bishops  together,  deter 
mined  to  extort  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  to  the  acts  of 
the  council,  under  the  specious  and  continuous  arguments 
and  forced  interpretations  of  the  creed,  used  by  his  parti 
sans  both  lay  and  clerical,  and  under  the  benumbing  and 
stupefying  effects  of  protracted  weariness  and  hopelessness 
all  of  them  finally  subscribed  the  creed,  except  Arius  and 
six  others — Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia, 
Theonas,  Bishop  of  Marmarica,  Secundus,  Bishop  of 
Theuchira,  Euzoius  the  deacon,  Achillas  the  reader,  and 
Saras,  a  presbyter — against  all  of  whom  the  emperor  made 
a  decree  of  perpetual  banishment,  but  gave  not  orders  for 
the  enforcement  thereof.  He  was  not  satisfied  ;  especially 
he  was  dissatisfied  because  he  was  unable  to  extort  the  sig 
natures  of  the  Eusebii ;  and  he  still  waited,  determined  in 
some  way  to  obtain  these  signatures.  Finally,  he  caused 
Eusebius  of  Caesarea  to  be  brought  before  him,  and,  as 
suming  an  air  of  great  friendliness  and  concern  toward 
him,  he  said  :  "  Dear  bishop,  I  did  tell  thee  long  ago  that 
our  differences  about  the  Arian  heresy  must  never  be  a 
cause  of  quarrel  between  thee  and  me.  I  wish  to  know 
what  difficulty  thou  hast  (and  thy  brother)  in  subscribing 
the  creed?" 

And  Eusebius  answered:  "The  difficulty  truly  is  not 


ONE  JOT  THAT   PASSED   FROM   THE  LAW.      375 

a  very  large  one ;  it  is  just  the  size  and  shape  of  an 
'iota'  of  the  Greek  alphabet." 

"If  it  is  as  insignificant  as  that,"  answered  the  em 
peror,  "  let  us  quietly  remove  it  and  be  friends  again. 
Tell  me,  therefore,  what  thou  dost  mean." 

"  Hast  thou  here  the  creed  ? "  asked  Eusebius. 

Constantino  handed  the  parchment  to  him,  and  Eu 
sebius  said:  ''This  word  dfioovoiof  is  one  which  Arius 
condemneth  as  implying  the  identity  of  Father  and  Son, 
and  my  conscience  suffereth  not  me  to  sign  it ;  but  the 
word  6fioiovmog,  which  differeth  therefrom  only  by  the 
one  small  iota  therein,  expresses  exactly  what  I  believe, 
that  Father  and  Son  are  of  like  divine  nature." 

"And  wouldst  thou  sign  it  if  this  letter  had  been 
written  therein  ?  and  thy  brother  ?  and  the  others  who 
are  sentenced  to  banishment  ? " 

"  Assuredly ! " 

"It  shall  never  be  said,"  laughed  Constantino,  "that 
I  have  lost  my  friend  and  bishop  for  such  a  trifle ! " 

Then  he  pointed  out  the  fact  that  a  small  "t"  had 
been  dexterously  inserted  between  "6jito"  and  "ow«>f"  in 
both  the  places  where  the  word  occurred  in  the  creed, 
making  it  the  Arian  dpoiovoiog,  instead  of  the  Trinitarian 
d^oovmog. 

"Now,  bishop,  give  me  thy  signature,  and  communi 
cate  this  arrangement  confidentially  unto  the  others,  and 
let  them  come  and  sign  also,  that  the  creed  may  be 
unanimously  signed,  and  all  of  these  unseemly  dissen 
sions  banished  out  of  the  established  Church." 

The  bishop  laughed  lightly,  but  signed  the  confession 


376  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

of  faith,  and  not  long  afterward  all  the  others  did  so, 
except  Arius,  who  was  already  far  upon  the  road  to  the 
heart  of  Illyricum. 

Constantine  had  now  completed  his  long-cherished 
design  of  subverting  the  social  and  political  organiza 
tion  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  establishing  a  state 
religion,  of  which  he  might  be  the  head  in  place  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  whose  name  he  founded  a  system  that 
was  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Saviour's  whole  life 
and  teachings. 

It  remained  only  for  him  to  have  the  action  of  the 
(Ecumenical  Council  confirmed  by  some  miraculous  cir 
cumstances,  and  the  imperial  ingenuity  was  fully  equal 
to  the  occasion ;  for  two  members  of  the  council  had 
died  at  Nicea  during  its  protracted  session,  and  were 
buried  in  the  church  :  With  a  grand  and  ostentatious 
procession  by  torch-light,  the  sacred  roll  of  parchment 
was  taken  to  their  tomb  and  left  there  through  the 
night,  the  emperor  himself  having  prayed  publicly  that, 
if  the  departed  bishops  approved  the  action  of  the  coun 
cil,  they  might  in  some  way  signify  their  assent  to  the 
decrees  and  creed  thereof ;  and  early  the  next  morning 
the  signatures  of  the  dead  bishops  were  found  upon  the 
parchment!  Their  endorsement  was  unequivocal:  "We, 
Chrysanthus  and  Mysonius,  fully  concurring  with  the  first 
Holy  and  (Ecumenical  Synod,  although  removed  from 
earth,  have  signed  the  volume  with  our  own  hands." 

Still,  the  emperor  did  not  dissolve  the  assembly,  and, 
in  order  to  gain  over  the  personal  affection  even  of  those 
who  had  most  stubbornly  resisted  his  sacrilegious  domi- 


ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED  FROM  THE  LAW.       377 

nation  of  the  council,  he  provided  a  magnificent  banquet 
for  the  members  thereof,  and  lavished  upon  them  every 
mark  of  love  and  honor.  He  lodged  the  one-eyed,  ham 
strung  old  Paphnutius  in  his  own  palace,  "  and  often 
sent  for  him  to  hear  the  story  of  his  persecutions ;  and 
now  it  was  remarked  how  he  would  throw  his  arms  round 
the  old  man,  and  put  his  lips  to  his  eyeless  socket  as 
if  to  suck  out  with  his  reverential  kiss  the  blessing  which, 
as  it  were,  lurked  in  the  sacred  cavity,  and  stroked  down 
with  his  imperial  hand  the  frightful  wound ;  how  he 
pressed  his  legs  and  arms,  and  the  royal  purple,  to  the 
paralyzed  limbs,  and  put  his  own  eyeball  into  the  socket." 
And,  because  those  maimed  and  tortured  members  of  the 
council  who  had  been  "  confessors "  enjoyed  the  reputa 
tion  of  especial  sanctity  and  honor  throughout  the  Church, 
Constantine  used  the  same  disgusting  demagogy  in  his 
dealings  with  them  all,  and  fawned  upon  and  flattered 
them  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  until  he  believed  he  had 
stolen  for  himself  their  influence  in  aiding  him  to  eradi 
cate  primitive  Christianity  out  of  the  East,  as  he  had 
already  done  in  the  West,  and  so  banishing  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  and  so  nourish 
ing  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church,  maintained  and 
governed  by  imperial  authority,  the  ancient  crimes  of  war, 
slavery,  and  mammon-worship,  perpetuating  the  bondage 
of  the  people  unto  the  ruling  classes,  and  giving  the 
sanction  of  religion  to  class  distinctions  between  men  and 
families,  based  upon  this  idolatry,  which  had  been  always 
the  curse  of  human  life. 

And  for  a  whole  year  Constantine  pursued  his  pur- 


378  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

pose  quietly,  unceasingly,  intelligently,  by  the  use  of  a 
thousand  different  means  and  agencies,  to  reduce  the  East 
to  a  condition  of  ecclesiastical  serfdom  to  his  authority, 
and  to  confirm,  popularize,  and  consolidate  his  power. 
But  the  slow,  doubtful,  hesitating  adoption  of  the  im 
perial  church  by  the  Christians  of  Armenia,  and  to  a 
less  degree  by  those  of  Syria,  Egypt,  and  the  Gothic 
provinces  along  the  Danube,  to  whom  he  had  sent  back 
their  teacher  Ulfilas  after  ordaining  him  to  be  a  royal 
bishop,  inspired  the  emperor  with  misgivings  of  the  fu 
ture,  and  with  an  almost  unreasoning  jealousy  and  hatred 
of  Crispus  Caesar,  his  son,  who  was  the  favorite  of  all 
those  regions,  and  of  Licinius,  who  represented  the  fam 
ily  of  the  legitimate  sovereign  thereof,  whom  Constantino 
had  dethroned  and  destroyed. 

And  the  next  year  the  emperor  went  to  Home  to  cele 
brate  the  Ides  of  Quintilis,  the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Lake  Regillus,  in  which,  according  to  the  chronicles 
of  pagan  Rome,  the  twin-gods  Castor  and  Pollux  had 
fought  in  defense  of  the  Eternal  City,  and  brought  thereto 
the  welcome  news  of  victory.  It  was  esteemed  to  be  the 
most  sacred  ceremony  known  to  the  Roman  people.  Dur 
ing  the  grand  festival,  Constantine,  believing  that  after 
the  Council  of  Nicea  his  own  ecclesiastical  system  was 
so  powerful  and  so  securely  established  that  he  need  not 
longer  patronize  the  heathen,  refused  to  take  his  proper 
place  in  the  ancient  ritual  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
and  even  exhibited  his  contempt  for  the  empty  pageant 
ry  of  a  legion  of  knights  passing  in  solemn  procession, 
by  commenting  upon  their  appearance  with  that  caustic. 


ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED   FROM  THE  LAW.      379 

epigrammatic  wit  of  which  few  men  were  more  thor 
oughly  master.  That  large  portion  of  the  Romans  who 
yet  openly  adhered  to  the  ancient  religion  were  insulted 
and  furious  at  the  conduct  of  the  emperor,  and  there 
was  a  fierce  riot  in  the  streets,  during  which  stones  were 
hurled  at  the  statues  of  the  emperor,  and  attempts  made 
to  overthrow  them. 

His  wife  Fausta,  the  daughter  of  the  fierce  old  em 
peror  Maximian,  inherited  much  of  her  father's  cruel  na 
ture  and  imperious  ambition.  She  and  Constantino  had 
three  sons — Constantino,  Constantius,  and  Constans.  She 
had  always  envied  Crispus  Caesar  the  superiority  which 
his  primogenial  rights  gave  to  him  as  the  first-born  of 
Constantino  over  her  own  sons,  and  especially  had  her 
jealousy  been  inflamed  by  the  splendid  reputation  which 
young  Caesar  had  gained  by  the  skill  and  courage  where 
with  he  had  defeated  the  vastly  superior  navy  of  Licinius 
in  the  straits  of  the  Hellespont.  Next  to  the  great  em 
peror  himself  stood  Crispus  Caesar,  not  only  in  official 
station,  but  in  the  love  and  admiration  of  the  world  ; 
and  her  own  sons  occupied  a  far  less  conspicuous  position, 
which  was  rendered  more  galling  to  her  pride  by  the  very 
prominence  derived  from  the  fact  that  they  also  were  the 
sons  of  the  emperor.  Fausta  had  remarked  with  secret 
joy  the  open  aid  and  friendship  showed  by  Crispus  Caesar 
for  Arius,  which  fact  had  aroused  the  suspicions,  as  much 
as  the  victory  of  Crispus  had  excited  the  jealousy,  of  the 
emperor.  She  failed  not,  also,  to  perceive  that  the  de 
votion  of  Constantia,  the  widow  of  Licinius,  and  of  the 
Empress  Helena,  Constantino's  mother,  to  this  same  Arius, 


380  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

had  created  a  common  interest  and  friendship  between 
Caesar,  Helena,  and  Constantia.,  while  Eusebius  of  Nico- 
media  was  the  trusted  friend  and  adviser  of  all  of  them, 
and  the  tutor  of  young  Licinius.  Fausta  herself,  the 
daughter  of  a  pagan  and  the  wife  of  an  atheist,  was  as 
nearly  devoid  of  religious  sentiment  as  it  was  ever  possible 
for  a  woman  to  become  ;  and,  like  her  husband,  thought 
that  all  faith  is  only  superstition,  which  may  be  advan 
tageously  used  by  a  wise  ruler  for  the  government  of 
men ;  and  understanding  better  than  any  one  else  that 
Constantino  regarded  the  free  Arian  spirit  as  the  most 
dangerous  element  in  the  political  future  of  the  empire, 
she  had  cunningly  employed  every  artifice  and  innuendo 
that  could  tend  to  inflame  his  personal  hatred  of  these 
religious  dissenters.  She  affected  to  regard  the  riot  in 
the  streets  of  Rome  as  arising  from  the  machinations  of 
the  Arian  recusants.  Knowing  that  Constantine  had  only 
once  visited  Eome  since  the  overthrow  of  Maxentius,  and 
that  he  disliked  the  place,  she  pretended  to  desire  that 
he  should  fix  his  imperial  residence  at  Rome,  on  the 
ground  that  Milan  was  inconveniently  situated,  and  that 
both  Nicomedia  and  Constantinople,  being  in  the  midst 
of  vast  Arian  communities,  were  unsafe  for  him. 

She  thought  that  the  rioting  in  Rome  gave  her  the 
opportunity  to  take  some  decisive  step  in  accomplishing 
her  long-cherished  designs,  and  began  more  vehemently 
to  press  her  insidious  suggestions  upon  the  gloomy  soul 
of  the  atheist  whom  she  knew  to  worship  only  himself. 

"If  the  stone  wherewith  these  Arian  strangers  who 
are  in  the  city  marred  the  head  of  thy  statue  on  the 


ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED  FROM  THE  LAW.      381 

Via  Sacra  had  smitten  thee,  thou  wouldst  have  been  slain 
at  once." 

"  But,"  said  the  emperor,  dryly,  passing  his  hand  over 
his  forehead,  "  I  feel  not  the  slightest  pain  from  the 
blow." 

"The  undirected  mob  is  powerless  against  thee,"  she 
said  ;  "  but  this  infamous  act  is  but  the  unguarded  ex 
pression  of  a  sentiment  common  to  the  millions  of  Arme 
nia,  and  to  large  numbers  of  the  Egyptians  and  Syrians, 
and  to  nearly  all  of  the  Goths." 

"  What  hath  caused  thee  so  much  uneasiness  from 
such  a  trifle  as  the  throwing  of  a  stone  or  two  ?  The  royal 
blood  should  despise  such  visionary  fears." 

"But  the  guardsman,  Pilus,  who  hath  lately  come 
from  Illyricum,  informeth  me  that  in  the  garrison  it  is 
commonly  reported  that  the  heretic  Arius  saith  that, 
if  Christians  could  lawfully  bear  arms,  the  Arians  of 
Armenia  and  the  Goths  alone  could  seat  Licinius  upon 
the  throne  of  his  father,  and  Crispus  Caesar  upon  thine." 

"But  neither  Licinius,  nor  Crispus,  nor  the  Arians, 
cherish  any  such  treasonable  designs,"  said  Constan- 
tine. 

"  I  fear  lest  thou  art  lulled  into  a  false  security. 
Ever  anxious  for  thy  safety  and  for  thy  glory,  I  have 
consulted  auguries  and  oracles,  and,  although  these  things 
have  no  great  weight  with  thee  or  with  me  as  matters  of 
religious  faith,  the  oracles  were  always  valuable  portents  to 
show  the  drift  of  popular  opinion  and  desire  ;  and  no  great 
statesman  can  afford  to  despise  them,  for  that  which  the 

multitude  long  after  doth  sooner  or  later  come  to  pass  : 
25 


382  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

and  all  the  divinations  portend  calamity  to  thee  and  thy 
house  from  the  Arians." 

"But  Licinius  is  a  boy,  and  Crispus  Caesar  is  quiet, 
modest,  temperate,  and  unostentatious.  He  hath  neither 
vices  nor  ambitions  that  require  him  to  aspire  higher 
than  he  already  standeth." 

"Thou  wouldst  rather  cease  to  be  than  cease  to  rule 
the  empire.  Dominion  is  the  dominant  passion  of  thy 
lofty  soul.  It  is  the  marked  characteristic  of  thy  race. 
There  are  other  men  mastered  by  similar  ambition.  The 
quiet,  orderly  life  of  Caesar  may  blind  the  eyes  of  man 
kind  to  an  ambition  that  would  hesitate  at  nothing.  Thy 
father  was  such  a  temperate  youth  that  he  sacrificed  all 
common  lusts  and  appetites  to  win  the  sovereignty  of 
Rome,  and  he  would  not  have  been  contented  long  with 
that  if  he  had  lived.  Thou  didst  inherit  his  nature 
with  his  military  genius,  and  thou  hast  lived  moderately 
in  order  to  gain  the  sovereignty  of  the  world.  Crispus 
hath  inherited  from  thee  the  great  abilities  which  en 
abled  him  to  triumph  on  the  Hellespont  and  share  thy 
glory,  or  rather  take  to  himself  the  greater  share.  He 
would  not  forego  the  pleasures  of  youth  and  the  advan 
tages  of  his  great  position  unless  he  were  constantly  medi 
tating  upon  some  great  design.  Look  to  thyself,  Au 
gustus." 

Such  insidious  counsels  she  constantly  offered  to  the 
jealous  and  cruel  emperor,  and  they  bore  a  deadly  fruit. 
Suddenly  the  gallant  young  Caesar  was  seized,  trans 
ported  to  the  gloomy  fortress  of  Pola,  imprisoned,  and 
then  murdered,  by  order  of  "the  most  Christian  Em- 


ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED  FROM  THE  LAW.      383 

peror  Constantine,"  "the  favorite  of  God,"  "the  de 
fender  of  the  faith,"  his  father  !  Almost  immediately 
the  young  Licinius  was  snatched  from  the  arms  of  his 
mother,  and  put  to  death  by  the  order  of  his  uncle, 
Constantine,  "the  first  Christian  Emperor  of  Eome." 

"I  have  fortified  my  throne  against  all  danger  from 
Crispus  Caesar  and  the  Arians,"  said  Constantine  unto 
himself. 

"The  road  to  royal  favor  and  to  future  power  is 
opened  for  my  splendid  brood  of  Caesars,"  murmured 
Fausta  under  her  breath. 

"The  Empress  Fausta  hath  plotted  against  and  mur 
dered  my  gallant  son  Crispus,  and  my  grandson  Licinius, 
whom  I  loved.  I  will  be  revenged  upon  the  cruel  mur 
deress  or  die  ! "  was  the  unuttered  comment  of  the  Em 
press-mother  Helena ;  and  from  that  hour,  with  the  slow, 
settled,  and  deliberate  hatred  of  old  age  and  hopeless  sor 
row,  she  sought  for  the  life  of  Fausta. 

The  world  held  its  breath  in  horror  at  these  fearful 
crimes,  and  hardly  did  the  historians  of  that  age  dare  to 
commit  any  account  thereof  unto  posterity.  But  it  was 
impossible  for  the  officers  of  the  Illyrian  fortress,  where 
Arius  was  imprisoned,  to  speak  of  such  atrocities  with 
out  some  knowledge  thereof  coming  to  their  quiet,  in 
telligent  prisoner.  When  he  heard  of  the  assassination 
of  Crispus  Caesar  and  of  Licinius,  the  only  comment 
made  by  the  stern,  inflexible,  incorruptible  old  heretic 
was  this:  "A  council  of  Christ's  Church  ought  not  to 
be  ecumenical  and  barren  ;  and  the  first  one  already 
beareth  terrible  but  legitimate  fruits." 


384  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

The  empress-mother,  old  Helena,  continually  and  skill 
fully  directed  the  suspicions  of  her  dark-souled,  bloody 
son  against  the  Empress  Fausta  herself ;  and,  when  she 
had  prepared  her  vengeance  so  that  she  thought  it  could 
not  fail,  she  accused  Fausta  of  infidelity  to  the  emperor, 
with  that  same  Pilus,  of  the  imperial  guardsmen.  Many 
craftily  prepared  circumstances  corroborated  the  infamous 
and  degrading  accusation,  and  quickly  and  secretly  the 
emperor  put  his  wife  to  death. 

"  Small  recompense  for  my  great  wrong,"  murmured 
Helena,  "  but  all  that  I  can  take ;  for  the  woman's 
beautiful  sons  are  also  mine  own  grandchildren." 

"I  have  no  friend  on  earth,"  mused  Constantine, 
"except  my  mother  and  Eusebius  of  Caesarea." 

When  the  gloomy  old  prisoner  of  the  Illyrian  fortress 
heard  of  the  murder  of  Fausta,  upon  this  disgraceful 
charge  of  adultery  with  a  guardsman,  he  said  :  "  The  grand 
name  of  Constantine  is  soaked  with  domestic  blood  and 
draggled  in  domestic  filth.  The  royal  oecumenical  council 
beareth  such  strange  and  deadly  fruit." 

The  officers  of  the  fortress  were  held  to  be  account 
able  with  their  lives  for  the  heretic's  safe-keeping,  and 
vigilant  spies  reported  to  Constantine  almost  every  word 
he  uttered,  and  stole  and  transmitted  to  the  emperor  al 
most  every  line  he  wrote,  and  the  old  man's  gloomy  com 
ments  upon  the  condition  of  the  Church,  and  his  strange 
and  seemingly  inspired  interpretations  of  prophecy,  which 
he  supposed  to  relate  to  Constantine  and  his  new  city 
of  Constantinople,  built  upon  seven  hills,  above  the  nar 
row  straits  whereto  the  commerce  of  the  world  resorted, 


ONE  JOT  THAT  PASSED  FROM  THE  LAW.      385 

doubtless  aided  Fausta's  and  Helena's  conspiracies  to  lead 
him  into  the  commission  of  those  horrible  crimes  which 
shocked  the  moral  sense  of  the  world,  and  justified  the 
pagans  in  breathless  wonder  as  to  what  new  atrocities 
would  follow  the  legal  establishment  of  the  Christian  faith 
— atrocities  that  perhaps  afterward  drove  Julian  the  Apos 
tate  to  struggle  for  the  restoration  of  paganism.  And 
doubtless  Arius  himself  would  long  ago  have  perished, 
if  the  emperor  had  not  hoped  to  obtain  from  his  manu 
scripts-  and  prophecies  warning  of  every  coming  danger. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

AN  IMPERIAL  BEPENTANCE. 

Bur,  although  these  secret  horrors,  which  degraded  the 
noblest  family  of  the  empire,  were  kept  as  still  as  pri 
vate  crimes,  and  men  dared  scarcely  speak  of  them  ex 
cept  in  terrified  whispers,  the  knowledge  thereof  spread 
abroad,  until  enough  was  known  to  fill  the  Christian 
world  with  detestation  of  the  emperor ;  and  he  whose  gov 
erning  passion  had  been  to  rule  mankind,  and  to  com 
mand  their  respect  and  reverence  at  any  cost,  found 
himself  to  be  held  by  the  popular  verdict  as  an  out 
cast  from  virtue  and  decency.  His  iron  soul  was  proof 
against  every  shaft  except  this,  but  the  wound  it  inflict 
ed  upon  his  boundless  self-love  was  bitter  and  incurable. 
Realizing  that  he  had  outraged  the  moral  sentiment  of 
Christendom  by  these  atrocious  crimes,  the  emperor  de 
termined  to  overthrow  what  he  called  Christianity,  and 
re-establish  the  pagan  religion,  charging  his  crimes  to 
the  blinding  influences  of  the  superstition  and  strong 
magic  of  the  Church,  and  thereby  win  for  himself  the 
love  and  confidence  of  that  large  portion  of  his  subjects 
who  still  adhered  to  the  ancient  idolatries.  In  pursu 
ance  of  this  design,  Constantine  applied  to  the  flamens 


AN   IMPERIAL   REPENTANCE.  387 

at  Eome  for  purification  from  his  domestic  crimes,  as 
the  first  step  toward  the  rehabilitation  of  his  moral 
nakedness  and  deformity ;  but  the  priests,  who  knew  his 
crafty,  unscrupulous,  cruel,  and  atheistic  nature,  and  who 
already  had  in  training  the  young  and  gifted  Julian, 
seized  this  opportunity  to  gratify  their  theological  hate, 
by  boldly  declaring  that  the  ancient  rituals  of  paganism 
did  not  know  any  form  of  expiation  for  such  fearful 
and  unnecessary  crimes  as  his. 

Then  Constantine  turned  away  forever  from  heathen 
ism,  and  sent  for  Hosius,  Bishop  of  Cordova,  who  assured 
him  that  "in  Christianity  all  sin,  however  great,  may 
find  forgiveness  :  for  He  saveth  unto  the  uttermost  all 
that  come  unto  God  by  him." 

"And  what  method  must  I  use  to  secure  this  for 
giveness  ? "  asked  the  emperor. 

"  Only  true  repentance  toward  God,  and  humble,  sin 
cere  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,"  said  the  bishop. 

Then,  with  a  singular  smile,  Constantine  looked  at 
the  bishop  and  answered  :  "Bishop,  thou  dost  forget  that 
thou  art  not  now  talking  to  a  woman  taken  in  adultery, 
nor  to  a  thief  upon  the  cross.  Farewell ! " 

And  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  the  emperor  contemptu 
ously  dismissed  him. 

But  Constantine  could  not  endure  the  popular  detesta 
tion  of  which  he  knew  himself  to  be  justly  the  object,  and 
as  a  last  resort  he  sent  for  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  Eusebius 
knew  the  emperor  fully  as  well  as  the  emperor  knew  him, 
and,  of  course,  knew  that  lie  might  as  well  chant  psalms 
to  a  deaf  ass  as  to  recommend  faith  and  repentance  to  the 


388  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

imperial  atheist,  as  Hosius  of  Cordova  had  innocently 
endeavored  to  do.  When  Eusebius  came  before  the  em 
peror,  Constantine  spoke  to  him  in  a  light,  bantering  tone, 
saying :  "  Bishop,  Crispus  Caesar  became  infatuated  with 
the  idea  that  he  was  great  enough  to  wear  my  sandals  and 
to  wield  my  spear  even  while  I  live ;  and  the  young  man 
met  with  a  fatal  accident.  The  youth  Licinius,  and  the 
woman  Fausta,  exposed  themselves  to  some  unwholesome 
atmosphere,  and  the  results  of  their  indiscretion  were 
deleterious  to  their  health.  These  events  have  happened 
unfortunately  for  me,  and  I  require  thine  unfailing  aid  in 
avoiding  further  inconvenience  from  them.  What  canst 
thou  do  for  me  ?  " 

"Could  not  the  flamens  of  Jupiter  give  thy  burdened 
conscience  rest  ?  "  said  the  bishop,  quietly,  but  with  ma 
licious  pleasure. 

"  No,"  answered  Constantine,  laughing.  "  The  priests 
are  good  haters — somewhat  too  demonstrative,  perhaps, 
but  steady  and  reliable  in  their  antipathies  ;  and  so  they 
took  out  their  spite  upon  me  the  first  time  Fate  gave  them 
an  opportunity." 

"  Could  not  the  most  learned  and  holy  Hosius  point 
out  to  thee  the  road  to  peace  ? " 

"  No,  indeed.  That  respectable  idiot  began  some  sort 
of  mummery  concerning  faith  and  repentance  ;  but  I  cut 
him  short.  Bishop,  thou  wert  not  wont  to  be  so  difficult. 
I  confess  that,  since  the  Council  of  Nicea,  I  have  not  done 
justice  to  thy  superior  merit,  and  have  even  felt  somewhat 
estranged  from  thee.  Forget  all  that,  and  let  us  once 
more  be  friends." 


AN  IMPERIAL  REPENTANCE.  389 

"  Augustus,"  said  the  bishop,  "  I  have  keenly  felt  the 
withdrawal  of  thy  favor,  although  I  have  complained  to 
no  one.  I  think  that,  if  it  had  been  otherwise,  I  could 
have  showed  thee  sufficient  reasons  for  avoiding  some 
terrible  mistakes.  What  is  the  exact  difficulty  which 
these  mistakes  have  led  thee  upon  ?  " 

"  The  Arians  are  rejoiced  by  any  occurrence  that 
gives  them  a  pretext  for  railing  at  me  ;  the  orthodox 
Christians  have  the  unblushing  impudence  to  attempt  to 
sit  in  judgment  upon  the  actions  of  the  emperor  that  res 
cued  them  from  persecutions,  and  affect  to  be  shocked 
thereby,  just  as  if  they  were  fit  to  judge  his  deeds  or  com 
prehend  his  policy ;  the  implacable  flamens  hope  to  make 
such  use  of  these  accidents  as  to  lead  the  world  back  to 
paganism  without  my  aid.  The  Arians  hate  me  because 
I  would  not  permit  them  to  establish  a  kingdom  in  the 
empire  of  which  I  was  not  to  be  the  king.  Thou  must 
find  some  way  to  conciliate  the  fools,  for  the  hearts  of  all 
men  are  estranged  from  me ;  and,  as  thou  hast  always 
known,  I  would  rather  rule  by  love  than  by  terror.  But 
rule  I  will,  while  I  shall  live.  Now,  how  can  I  regain  my 
former  hold  upon  either  the  pagan  or  the  Christian 
world  ?  " 

"  Thou  must  first  of  all  definitely  abandon  the  idea 
that  the  empire  can  ever  return  to  paganism,"  said  Euse- 
bius.  "  The  amazing  progress  of  Christianity  among  the 
people  and  the  rapid  decline  of  heathenism  demonstrate 
that  the  old  religion  hath  almost  ceased  to  be  a  political 
force,  and  any  emperor  who  would  seek  to  re-establish  it 
is  foredoomed  to  certain  failure." 


390  AETUS   THE  LIBYAN. 

"  Let  that  pass.  Ye  bishops  always  regard  the  Church 
as  the  first  thing  to  be  considered.  I  concede  that  thou 
art  right.  What  then  ?  " 

"  Thou  must  also  understand,"  said  Eusebius,  with  ma 
licious  pleasure,  "  that,  while  the  will  of  the  emperor  is 
the  law  of  the  land,  it  is  no  longer  the  standard  of  right 
and  wrong  for  Christians.  Thy  statutes  may  control  po 
litical  life,  and  prescribe  the  external  forms  of  worship  for 
the  Church  :  its  conscience  hath  passed  even  beyond  thy 
control." 

Constantino  turned  white  with  wrath. 

"  The  impudent  beggars  ! "  he  cried,  ' '  whom  I  re 
deemed  from  tortures  and  from  death  !  Where,  then,  was 
their  'conscience'  when  the  council  subverted  the  king 
dom  of  heaven  upon  earth,  and  they  all  signed  the  decree 
which  abolished  the  earthly  sovereignty  of  Christ  ?  But," 
checking  his  furious  anger  with  a  mighty  effort,  "  what 
next?" 

"  If  a  man  hath  done  a  crime,"  said  Eusebius,  "  no 
matter  how  cruel  and  unnatural,  the  Christians  under 
stand  that  he  may  obtain  forgiveness  for  his  sin  by  re 
pentance  and  faith,  even  as  King  David  did  in  the  matter 
of  Bath-sheba." 

"  Well ! "  said  Constantino,  impatiently. 

"  The  Christian  world  will  never  pardon  thee  without 
this  repentance  and  faith,  or  the  appearance  of  it,"  said 
Eusebius,  and  he  uttered  the  last  few  words  in  a  low,  pe 
culiar  tone. 

"  And  what  shape  might  '  the  appearance  of  it '  as 
sume  ?  "  asked  the  emperor,  with  a  laugh. 


AN  IMPERIAL  REPENTANCE.  391 

"Thou  mightst  go  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  unto  the 
church  and  publicly  pray  to  God  and  man  for  par 
don  ! " 

"  And  I  might  far  sooner  hang  up  a  bishop  and  exter 
minate  a  sect  that  would  seriously  insist  upon  any  such 
degrading  terms ! " 

"  So  I  supposed,"  said  Eusebius,  "and  even  then  such 
a  course  would  only  be  ( the  appearance '  of  faith  and  re 
pentance,  not  the  things  themselves.  But  thou  mightst 
build  a  church  and  dedicate  it  unto  the  memory  of  Caesar ; 
or  set  up  his  statue,  with  an  inscription  intimating  that 
he  was  the  victim  of  a  mistake,  and  the  object  of  affection 
ate  and  sorrowful  remembrance.  Either  of  these  '  appear 
ances  of  it '  might  be  sufficient. " 

"That  will  answer,"  cried  Constantino.  "Crispus 
Caesar  was  a  handsome  man,  and  an  excellent  subject  for 
a  statue.  The  statue  shall  be  of  gold,  and  the  inscription 
shall  be,  '  To  Crispus,  mine  injured  and  innocent  son.' 
Will  that,  think  you,  reconcile  the  orthodox  ?  Or  what 
else  dost  thou  advise  ?  " 

"  The  Empress-mother  Helena  should  exhibit  some 
similar  token  of  repentance  for  her  hatred  of  the  Empress 
Fausta." 

"And  what  'appearance  of  it'  should  her  faith  and 
repentance  assume  ?  "  said  Constantine,  laughing  merrily. 

"  Kecently,"  replied  Eusebius,  "  a  lively  interest  hath 
sprung  up  throughout  the  Church  in  the  ( holy  places '  in 
Palestine.  If  the  empress  should  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
Holy  Land,  and  found  there  a  handsome  church  and  some 
sacred  shrines,  she  would  cease  to  annoy  thee,  amuse  her- 


392  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

self,  and  do  a  great  work  toward  restoring  the  love  and 
confidence  of  Christians  to  thyself  and  her." 

"  Thou  art  a  true  and  glorious  bishop,"  laughed  the 
emperor,  "  and  thou  dost  never  forget  the  welfare  of  the 
Church.  The  empress- mother  shall  go  quickly  on  her 
sacred  pilgrimage,  and  all  the  holy  places  shall  rejoice.  Is 
not  that  enough  ?  Or  is  there  yet  something  more  ? " 

"This  would  suffice  for  the  orthodox,"  said  Eusehius ; 
"  but  years  have  passed  since  the  Council  of  Nicea.  Time 
hath  assuaged  the  bitterness  of  former  days,  which  would, 
perhaps,  have  faded  out  altogether  but  that  the  banish 
ment  of.  Arius  keepeth  it  alive.  If  thou  wouldst  recon 
cile  the  whole  Church  unto  thyself,  recall  and  even  show 
some  special  honor  to  the  Libyan." 

"Thou  hast  reserved  thy  bitterest  medicine  for  the 
last!" 

"  But  it  is  necessary,  Augustus.  For  days  past  thy 
sister  Constantia,  who  is  even  now  upon  the  bed  of  death, 
hath  entreated  me  that  I  would  come  unto  thee  and  ask 
thee  to  visit  her,  that  she  might  make  it  her  dying  request 
that  thou  recall  Arius  and  restore  his  church  to  him. 
Of  course  I  could  not  come  till  thou  didst  order  it." 
And  then  the  bishop,  fixing  his  eyes  firmly  upon  the 
face  of  Constantine,  with  his  right  hand  extended,  said 
with  inexpressible  dignity  :  "  Augustus,  thy  sister's  hus 
band,  Licinius,  the  Emperor  of  the  East,  and  her  only 
son,  Licinius,  both  perished  by  thine  own  order ;  yet 
her  devotion  unto  thee  hath  never  faltered.  Surely  thou 
canst  not  refuse  her  dying  supplications  ! " 

Constantine's  face  for  once  grew  soft  with  a  genuine 


AN  IMPERIAL  REPENTANCE.  393 

emotion  of  humanity,  and  he  replied :  "  Surely  not, 
bishop !  I  always  loved  Constantia.  I  will  visit  her, 
and  do  whatever  she  desires." 

"  Go  to-day,  then,"  said  Eusebius,  "  for  she  hath  but 
few  hours  more  to  live." 

And  Constantino  went ;  and  the  long  and  sorely  tried 
and  deeply  injured,  but  still  faithful  and  loving  sister, 
with  her  dying  breath  besought  him  to  recall  the  great 
and  holy  Arius,  and  restore  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  empire  ;  and  with  a  mighty  oath  (as 
usual)  he  promised  so  to  do. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WELL   DONE,    GOOD   AND   FAITHFUL  SERVANT. 

DUEINQ  the  slow  lapse  of  all  the  years  which  had 
passed  away  since  the  date  of  the  Nicene  Council,  Arius 
the  Libyan  was  almost  as  much  dead  unto  the  world 
as  if  he  had  indeed  departed  from  this  life.  None,  ex 
cept  the  emperor  and  a  few  trusted  officers,  knew  any 
thing  more  of  him  than  that  he  was  kept  a  close  prisoner 
somewhere  in  Illyricum,  none  knew  precisely  where ;  and 
so  carefully  was  the  secret  guarded,  that  even  unto  this 
day  the  precise  place  and  manner  of  his  imprisonment 
remain  entirely  unknown.  For  a  few  years  after  he  had 
disappeared  so  suddenly,  there  were  now  and  then  vague 
rumors  in  circulation  that  some  of  his  devoted  adherents 
had  discovered  the  location  of  his  prison,  and  were  plot 
ting  to  deliver  him  therefrom  ;  and  the  same  rumors 
indefinitely  connected  the  names  of  Crispus  Caesar  and 
of  young  Licinius  with  these  revolutionary  designs ;  and 
cunning  Fausta  had  used  these  rumors,  with  remorseless 
skill  and  intelligence,  to  the  destruction  of  them  both. 
But  whether  these  were  merely  vague  and  idle  surmises, 
whether  there  was  some  foundation  in  fact  for  them,  or 
whether  the  crafty  emperor  himself  had  invented  and 


WELL  DONE,   GOOD  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVANT.    395 

floated  them,  in  order  to  justify  the  murders  upon  which 
he  had  already  determined,  will  forever  be  unknown. 
For,  upon  the  perpetration  of  these  enormous  crimes,  a 
mist  of  horror  overspread  the  empire  that  hid  the  name 
and  memory  of  the  Libyan  from  the  popular  gaze,  and 
thenceforth  absolutely  nothing  was  known  of  him  until 
he  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  appeared  at  Constanti 
nople. 

A  few  days  after  the  funeral  of  Constantia,  Constan- 
tine  summoned  Eusebius  and  said  unto  him:  "Bishop, 
I  swore  unto  Constantia  that  I  would  recall  Arius  speed 
ily,  and  I  will  keep  mine  oath ;  for  reflection  convinceth 
me  that  piety  in  this  regard  is  true  policy  also.  In 
what  manner  dost  thou  deem  it  most  fitting  to  effectu 
ate  this  purpose  ?  " 

"Do  it  like  a  Christian,  like  a  statesman,  like  an 
emperor,"  said  Eusebius,  "with  a  whole  heart,  gener 
ously  !  And  let  there  be  nothing  small,  or  niggardly,  or 
mean,  in  thine  action.  A  few  narrow-minded  ones  among 
the  orthodox  may  for  a  while  murmur  at  it ;  but  the  Ari- 
ans  will  rejoice,  and  all  Christians  and  all  men  will  say 
it  was  a  noble  thing  to  do  !  Therefore,  let  it  be  done 
in  a  grand  and  princely  way  ! " 

"  Particularize  the  programme  which  thou  thinkest  to 
be  ' grand'  and  ' princely. ": 

"  Let  free  pardon  be  granted  unto  Arius,  without 
conditions  of  any  kind  whatever.  Let  proclamation  be 
made  that  the  presbyter  will  be  received  into  communion 
again,  in  thine  own  city  and  in  thine  own  church,  and 
then  transferred  to  his  old  pastoral  charge,  the  Baucalis 


396  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

church  in  Alexandria,  and  so  recompense  his  sufferings 
with  a  triumphant  return,  and  receive  him  at  the  church- 
door  in  thine  own  person  !  " 

"  It  shall  so  be  done  at  once,"  answered  Constantine. 
"No  apologies  or  explanations  to  be  demanded  or  re 
ceived.  Do  thou  immediately  set  a  day,  and  carefully 
arrange  all  the  details  of  the  ceremony  as  thou  wilt. 
I  will  have  the  old  heretic  here  at  the  appointed  time." 

And  Eusebius  with  a  glad  heart  set  to  work  to  carry 
the  emperor's  design  into  effect.  Some  among  the  or 
thodox  murmured,  and  on  the  evening  before  the  day 
appointed,  Alexander,  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  was 
heard  to  exclaim,  "Let  me,  or  Arius,  die  before  to 
morrow  ! " 

But  the  emperor's  will  could  not  be  resisted ;  and, 
although  the  orthodox  shuddered  to  acknowledge  as  a 
brother  beloved  and  equal  one  whom  they  had  always 
branded  as  a  heretic,  the  secularized,  imperial  Church 
must  commit  treason  or  obey  ;  for  the  royal  ecumenical 
council  had  borne,  along  with  other  fruit,  this,  that  a 
difference  of  religious  faith  and  action  might  very  easily 
constitute  the  crime  of  treason  against  the  emperor. 

On  the  day  which  had  been  set  apart  for  the  solemn 
pageantry,  Arius  was  brought  by  chosen  officers  to  the 
lodgings  where  the  Eusebii  abode  when  in  the  city ;  but, 
designing  to  prepare  for  the  long-imprisoned  Libyan  all 
the  delightful  surprise  which  a  sudden  realization  of  the 
great  change  in  his  condition  might  afford,  the  Eusebii 
had  not  permitted  any  one  to  inform  him  fully  of  the 
matters  wmtemplated.  They  even  doubted,  also,  whether 


WELL  DONE,   GOOD   AND   FAITHFDL   SERVANT.    397 

the  grand,  ascetic,  incorruptible  old  man  would  enter  an 
imperial  church  to  receive  honor  at  the  hands  of  an  earth 
ly  sovereign  unless  he  should  be  taken  by  surprise.  When, 
therefore,  the  next  morning,  at  the  appointed  hour,  they 
took  places  upon  each  side  of  him,  and  invited  him  to 
walk  with  them  and  view  the  grand  and  beautiful  met 
ropolitan  church,  the  ancient  man  went  forth  not  know 
ing  what  special  purpose  was  contemplated.  And  as  they 
drew  nearer  unto  the  church,  and  beheld  a  vast  concourse 
of  people  in  holiday  attire,  and  ranks  of  soldiers  in  mag 
nificent  array,  with  banners  flying,  and  heard  the  mighty 
shouts  that  seemed  to  rend  the  heavens,  "  Glory  to  Con- 
stantine,  the  favorite  of  God  ! "  "  Long  live  Arius,  the 
great  and  faithful  presbyter  ! "  the  Libyan  paused,  and, 
gazing  upon  the  Eusebii,  inquired,  "  Bishops,  beloved,  what 
mean  these  mighty  clamors,  and  these  salutations  of  Con- 
stantine  and  Arius  ?  " 

And  they  answered,  "Father,  come  on  with  us  and 
thou  shalt  gladly  see." 

"  Not  a  step  more,  until  ye  have  told  me  all ! " 

"  It  meaneth  that  thou  art  recalled,  not  only  to  Con 
stantinople,  but  to  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church,  subject 
to  no  conditions  whatever  !  And  the  emperor  himself 
waits  at  the  door  yonder  to  welcome  and  to  honor  thee." 

Then  brake  the  strong  heart  within  him  of  a  hopeless 
sorrow,  and,  faintly  murmuring  these  words,  *  The  Anti 
christ  hath  triumphed  here  where  Satan  hath  his  seat ! ' 
a  convulsion  seized  upon  him,  and,  as  the  two  steadfast 
friends  strove  to  hold  him  up,  the  gigantic  form  of  the 
grand  old  man  glided  slowly  down  between  them,  and  lay 


398  ARIUS  THE  LIBYAN. 

prone  upon  the  pavement,  as  if  the  spirit  had  gone  out 
of  him  forever.  And  presently  a  slight  contortion  swept 
over  the  great,  gaunt  frame  ;  the  bony  right  hand  extend 
ed  itself  upward,  waving  gently  from  side  to  side ;  the 
rough  and  noble  head  darted  forward  upon  the  long,  lithe 
neck ;  a  tender  smile,  ineffably  soft  and  sweet,  played 
around  the  weary,  patient  mouth,  and  lighted  up  the  som 
ber  eyes  and  haggard  countenance  with  joy  and  beauty; 
and  gazing  far  away,  as  if  his  sight  could  pierce  the  bend 
ing  heavens,  he  sweetly  murmured,  'Jesus,  and  Theck- 
la  also  !'  Then  darkness  fell  upon  the  weary  face  and 
eyes  ;  the  mighty  limbs  relaxed  once  more ;  and  he  lay 
Btill  upon  the  rocky  way. 

Arms  the  Libyan  was  dead  I 


THE   END. 


DATE  DUE 


-IILITY 


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